Priceless 'Penny': Sniffer dog helps Ahmedabad police crack Rs 1 crore burglary from farmer's house

Ahmedabad: A police sniffer dog named 'Penny' has been receiving applause for helping the local cops detect a theft of over Rs 1 crore from a farmer's house in Ahmedabad.

According to police, the house of Udesinh Solanki, a resident of Saragvala village in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district was burgled on October 12. The unidentified thieves broke into his house and decamped with cash worth Rs 1.07 crore.

Udesinh, 52, had recently sold his land located in Lothal, which is famous as an archaeological site of the Indus Valley Civilisation, and kept the money at his house.

After an FIR was filed, the police launched an investigation and deputed a team of 19 policemen including 'Penny', a female Dobermann, and her handler Valjibhai Singhal.

While the policemen were gathering information through technical surveillance and human-based intelligence inputs about the suspects, Penny led the police to 4-5 individuals.

"One of the bags where the cash was kept, had been left behind by the burglars. Penny smelled it and guided us to 4-5 persons; this included the family members of the complainant also since they had touched the bag. The crucial part, however, were two other individuals to whom Penny led us to," Ahmedabad district superintendent of police Om Prakash Jat told DH.

The individuals - Budha Solanki and his accomplice Vikram Solanki - were apprehended after technical surveillance and circumstances confirmed that they were behind the theft. The police recovered all the money from the suspects.

Police said Budha was a close friend of complainant Udesinh. Budha knew that Udesinh had kept the money in his house in a grain storage container. He had kept Rs 1 crore in one bag and Rs 7.8 lakh in a separate bag. The two suspects left with the whole bag containing Rs 1 crore, and also took the cash from the other bag, leaving it behind. This bag helped the police crack the case with the help of Penny.

Police said that the house of Udesinh is old and breaking into it was not a big deal. As a matter of fact, Udesinh had to go out of the village and had asked Budha to accompany him, but the latter refused. In his friend's absence, Budha and his associate broke into the house through a window and made away with the cash.