Thane (PTI): Two men and a teen have been arrested and their minor sons detained for allegedly carrying out a series of house break-ins and burglaries in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the Mahatma Phule Chowk (MFC) police in Kalyan busted a family-run burglary ring in which the men scouted for locked houses and directed their sons to break in and steal valuables, a senior police official said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kalyan) Ashok Honmane said that the police have arrested a 19-year-old man, two fathers and detained two minors, and recovered stolen gold ornaments worth Rs 21.6 lakh.

The matter came to light following a complaint lodged on May 8 in Kalyan West, following which a case of housebreaking and theft was subsequently registered, he said.

Acting on tip-offs, the police arrested Kailas Vilas Bhalerao (19), a resident of Mohane in Ambivali, on May 13, and detained two minors aged 14 and 15 years, the official said.

"Interrogation revealed that the fathers, Vilas Prakash Bhalerao (38) and Deepak Ashok Jadhav (40), used their daily jobs to recce houses in residential societies and would then pass on this specific information to their children," he said.

The arrested teen accused would target the houses along with the minors and decamp with cash and jewellery.

Investigations have revealed that the gang was involved in at least three other burglaries in the Kalyan area, the official said.

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New Delhi (PTI): Nine people, including women and a minor girl, were hospitalised after suffering breathing-difficulties when a fire broke out in a four-storey residential building in Delhi's Shahdara area on Sunday, officials said.

According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a call regarding the blaze at D-45 in Mansarover Park was received at 12.03 am.

Three fire tenders and a water bowser were rushed to the spot. The fire had erupted in domestic articles kept in the parking area on the ground floor of the building, a senior fire official said.

During the rescue operation, DFS personnel evacuated nine people trapped on different floors of the building and shifted them to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital after they complained of breathing difficulties caused by smoke inhalation.

The injured were identified as Vanshika (20), Tanishka Soni (19), Durgesh (49), Yogesh Verma (50), Raj Rani (65), Arun Garg (48), Ananya (12), Renu Garg (19), and Prateek Garg (19).

Officials said all the rescued persons were admitted to GTB Hospital and kept under observation.

The fire was later brought under control, officials said, adding that the exact cause the blaze is yet to be ascertained.