Surat: A 50-year-old habitual thief with 102 criminal cases against him allegedly refused to confess to a house-breaking theft despite sustained interrogation. Limbayat police, however, noticed that he appeared deeply attached to a locket around his neck and used his superstition to break his resistance, leading to his confession in five more cases and the recovery of jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh.Limbayat police arrested Nilesh Kale following a technical investigation, CCTV analysis and information gathered through human intelligence. He was wanted in a house-breaking case involving the theft of ornaments from the residence of a fire officer.Police said Kale initially tried to conceal his identity, claiming that his name was Karan Morekar and that he was from Madhya Pradesh. Suspecting that he was lying, investigators photographed him and used a face-match application to verify his identity. The exercise established that he was Nilesh Kale.A subsequent check on the ICJS portal revealed around 102 criminal cases registered against Kale across different jurisdictions, including serious offences such as murder, house-breaking and assault. The cases date back to 2003.During interrogation, Kale allegedly confessed to five more house-breaking thefts apart from the Limbayat case. Police said he admitted to breaking into government staff quarters behind Dumbhal fire station in Limbayat around two months ago. He also allegedly targeted a house in Akshay Kunj Society near Samit School in Udhna and committed three thefts in residential societies in Kalyan and Pune in Maharashtra.Police recovered 116.97 grams of gold ornaments and 247.46 grams of silver ornaments, together valued at around Rs 15 lakh. The recovered jewellery included necklaces, bangles, bracelets, rings, earrings, pendants and silver anklets.Limbayat police inspector DD Chauhan said, ““We noticed that he attached great importance to the locket around his neck. We removed it for some time, after which he became emotional. He behaved as if he had lost his divine power and began confessing to one crime after another. He also took us to the places where he had hidden the stolen jewellery.”The five newly detected cases include two in Surat — one registered with Limbayat police and the other with Udhna police — and three in Maharashtra, registered with Kolshewadi and Vishrantwadi police.Cases in Maharashtra, TelanganaPolice said Kale’s criminal record spans Maharashtra, Telangana and other jurisdictions, with 102 cases recorded against him, many involving house-breaking and theft. Warrants have also been issued against him in more than 50 cases, according to police.An investigating officer said Kale was aware that confessing could lead to his transfer between police stations in connection with multiple cases and had therefore remained tight-lipped about the crimes and the stolen property.Kale walked 5-7km for recceSurat: Kale had a distinctive modus operandi. He would allegedly walk 5-7 km to conduct a recce before targeting locked houses, generally in the afternoon. He would use tools to break open door locks and cupboards and steal gold and silver ornaments.After the theft, Kale would again walk several kilometres, change autorickshaws and sometimes spend the night in isolated open areas to evade detection, police said. He would later travel by train to his native place, stay there for some time and then move to another city in a different state, according to investigators.
