Thread by @dhavalkulkarni

Malabar Hill is the most prestigious & well-guarded neighbourhood in Mumbai. It houses ministers, bureaucrats & the elite. The Raj Bhavan is also located here. In the 1970s, there was a robbery in Raj Bhavan, that too from the Governor's bedroom! #thread #MumbaiPolice #history

Nawab Ali Yavar Jung was the Governor of Maharashtra from 1970-76. Then, the Governor used to stay in Pune during the monsoons.

When Ali Yavar Jung returned to Mumbai from Pune, he was shocked to find that his cupboard in his bedroom in the Raj Bhavan had been raided. His suits, shervanis and clothes had been stolen. His Padma award medal had also been stolen.

The Raj Bhavan is surrounded by the sea on three sides and the landward side is secured with 24X7 police security. This was a serious security breach.

The monsoon session of the legislature was underway and a legislator asked a pertinent question--if a theft could occur in the Raj Bhavan, were the citizens of Mumbai safe?

The investigations were being handled by DCP Ramakant Kulkarni, one of the best sleuths in the #MumbaiPolice. In his memoirs, Kulkarni writes that he was actually seeking divine benediction to crack the case! The police also tapped into their vast network of informers for leads

Early morning, the phone in Kulkarni's house rang. The informer said that two petty thieves had come to a tailor with some expensive shervanis that they wanted to be altered.

Kulkarni called the informer to his office and with a police team, nabbed the two suspects from #Mumbai's eastern suburbs. The stolen goods were recovered before dawn.

The criminals had executed this daring and sensational crime by fluke. They were petty thieves and were drunk. They were having a stroll on the Chowpaty beach in the torrential rains and saw the Raj Bhavan building at some distance.

They walked to it in their drunken stupor. They saw a spiral staircase and took it to reach the bathroom in the Governor's bedroom. This staircase was meant for the sweepers.

The thieves collected their loot and left. They also took the Governor's felt hat to protect themselves from the rain.

When the case was cracked, DCP Kulkarni called up the then police commissioner, who was in a meeting with the chief minister. He explained the events and sought permission to go to the Mangeshi temple in Goa to fulfill his vow (navas).

A few seconds passed in silence and then the commissioner told Kulkarni: 'The Chief Minister says you have permission to go to the other end of the world!'

Ramakant Kulkarni, who also investigated sensational cases like the murder of CPI MLA Krishna Desai, the serial killer Raman Raghav, was referred to as India's Sherlock Holmes by the media for his detective skills. He rose to be the DGP of Maharashtra and had stints in the CBI

But, this was not the first security breach at the Governor's residence.

The first police Commissioner of Mumbai was Sir Frank Souter. In 1864, he took charge from Charles Forjett, the police chief of Mumbai from 1855-64. Then, the police commissioner also held charge of the Bombay Municipality and the fire brigade.

An Anglo-Indian, Forjett was a master of disguise. He once told the Governor Lord Mountstuart Elphinstone, that he could breach the heavy security at the Government House, Parel, which was then the Governor's residence, and appear at his bedside at 6 a.m.

Lord Elphinstone challenged him to fulfil his boast and took every precaution to prevent Forjett's entry into the premises. But, as he had promised Forjett appeared in the Governor's bedroom at the appointed time in the disguise of a sweeper!