The Crime Branch of Navi Mumbai police arrested a 41-year-old and claimed to have solved at least nine cases of auto-rickshaw thefts. The man was operating in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai for the past several months.
There has been a rise in auto-rickshaw theft in the city and this year, till September, 143 auto-rickshaws were stolen in the city. So far, the police have recovered a total of nine stolen auto-rickshaws from his possession.
The arrested accused was identified as Muslimuddin Shaikh, a resident of Govandi. Police said that he used to steal the autos parked on the roads and then would sell those somewhere out of Mumbai. “Shaikh is a resident of Benganvadi in Govandi and two more of his accomplices are involved. However, they are still at large and we are now looking for them,” said an official from the crime branch.
Suresh Mengade, deputy commissioner police (crime) said, “We learned that this gang sells the stolen vehicles somewhere out of Mumbai after changing their number plates and engine number. But exactly how they do that is still a matter of investigation. The value of the recovered autos is around Rs 5.65 lakh, and a few of them were stolen from Mumbai too.”
“A total of 143 auto-rickshaws were stolen from Navi Mumbai in the first nine months of this year and the police have recovered 64 of them. We appeal to the residents not to park their vehicles on roads as such are mostly targeting those vehicles,” Mengade said.
