Navi Mumbai: Crime branch arrests three, busts gang of Maruti Eeco cars stealer

The crime branch of Navi Mumbai police arrested three persons and busted a gang who were stealing Maruti Eeco cars and selling them in Tamil Nadu. Police also recovered 9 Maruti Eeco cars worth Rs 54 lakh and solved at least 12 cases of car thefts that took place in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Thane.

In 2021, Maruti Eeco cars were stolen from Rabale, Koparkhairane, Kharghar, Panvel and Kamothe areas.

Police visited all these places from where cars were stolen and checked the CCTV footage. Apart from the local police stations, the central unit of the crime branch also carried out a simultaneous investigation. “We checked the CCTV footage of several locations in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai including toll plazas,” said Bipin Kumar Singh, commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai. He added that they reached a conclusion that around 12 Eeco cars were stolen and a single gang was involved in all these thefts.

The police managed to get the mobile number of one of the accused and with technical analysis, caught an Ola driver. “We checked his transactions and mobile numbers, and caught two more persons from Kurla and Panvel areas,” said another official from the crime branch. He added that two police officials spent six to seven days and nights on tracing them.

The arrested accused were identified as Usman Ahmad Saiyad, 49, Shahnawaj Nazir Ahemd Shaikh, 39, and Abdul Salam Mehboob Shaikh, 35. All are residents of Kurla.

Police said that they used to change the fuel lock and make a duplicate key to steal the car. Police also issued safety measures to prevent car theft and to be cautious while buying a used car.

“Recovering all the stolen cars was also a challenge as all they were sold by changing registration numbers and chassis numbers in Tamil Nadu,” said the official, adding that they had to take the help of a private translator after reaching Tamil Nadu. “The cars were recovered from Chennai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Salem, Madurai and other places,” added the official.