Mumbai Crime: Gang of five arrested for auto rickshaw theft

Mumbai crime branch's unit-1 have arrested five people who were running a gang part of auto rickshaw theft. The accused are all residents of Govandi. While three, identified as Farid Shaikh, 26, Asif Naik, 47, Irshad Khan, 25, are auto drivers by profession and steal parked auto-rickshaws, the fourth accused, Nishar Ahmed, 29, is a scrap dealer. He would be in contact with the thieves and purchase these autos. The fifth accused, Nayab Shaikh, 36, runs a garage in Govandi where he repairs autorickshaw. His task is to identify the buyers and then convince them to buy autorickshaws.

Vinayak Mer, the senior inspector of unit-1 and his team was working on this case and after a month-long investigation, they found out that the accused and their nexus.

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During the investigation, police recovered 12 engines of auto rickshaws from Nayan's Garage and during an inquiry, the police found out that many autorickshaws were stolen. 

Modus operandi

These accused has contacts with Regional Transport Office (RTO) agents. They would procure engine numbers which are scrapped. The accused worked as a loan recovery sub-agents of a Cooperative bank where they would collect money from autorickshaw drivers who borrowed money (loan) to purchase autorickshaws.

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They were aware of parking spots for autos and identified those areas where they could easily steal autorickshaws, (mostly western and eastern suburbs).

An officer said that once they managed to steal an auto, they would take it to a garage where they remove each part and sell it separately in order for the crime to go unnoticed. The gang have been active in Mumbai over the past five years.

An officer said," There are many cases registered again them at Vile Parle, Andheri, MIDC, Vanrai, Malwani, Dindoshi, Dahisar, Kasturba Marg, VB Nagar, Dharavi, and Mulund police stations."

"We recovered 12 engines and matched those engine numbers with the ones mentioned in the previous FIR which was registered by the real auto rickshaw owners after their vehicles were stolen by the accused. Investigations are still on," said another officer.

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