Mumbai: The Trombay police detained a 15-year-old boy who could unlock motorcycles without keys within five minutes and stole eight parked vehicles from Vashi, Govandi and Mankhurd in Navi Mumbai along with two adult accomplices, one of whom is on the run.
The boy was handed over to his parents after interrogation. The arrested suspect, Farhan Aslam Qureshi, 19, a resident of Cheeta Camp didn’t sell the stolen bikes and kept them for joyrides.
Theft caught on cam
The matter surfaced when Dinkar Madane, 30, the complainant in the case, approached the police about his motorcycle going missing from the Maharashtra Nagar area in Mankhurd. The CCTV camera footage revealed a boy fiddling with his bike playfully but was later seen using a tool near the handlebar and then walking away nonchalantly. A few minutes later, a man appeared and kickstarted the bike and drove away, said sub-inspector Sharad Nanekar.
know-how in exchange for money and joyride
The police discreetly began looking for the boy through other CCTV camera footage and found him near the Cheeta Camp area in Trombay. After detention and interrogation, the police found out that he learnt to unlock motorcycles in Dongri juvenile home from a “friend” in detention there for such thefts. The police said he shared his know-how in exchange for money and joyride.
Senior police inspector Ravindra Ranshevre said young boys watch TV shows and see people around them riding bikes which they themselves can’t afford. “It’s not so much about money, but joyrides that attract them to such crimes,” he said.
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