A 42-year-old car thief and chain snatcher who had kidnapped a constable from the Pant Nagar police station last year was sent to eight months’ imprisonment by a metropolitan magistrate at Vikhroli court on Wednesday.
Ali Masood Sayyed has 12 cases of car theft, chain snatching and
kidnapping against him.
The police said, Sayyed had kidnapped the constable on June 29 while the victim was posted on police nakabandi.
“The constable stopped Sayyed during a nakabandi. He was driving a stolen car. While taking down the details of the four-wheeler, the constable got suspicious that it was a stolen vehicle,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.
The constable asked Sayyed to come for further inquiries but Sayyed and his accomplice (who is still at large) were afraid they would be caught.
“The duo overpowered the constable, pulled him into the car and drove away. They released him at Vikhroli after 30 minutes,” the officer added.
There were three other constables at the spot when the incident took place.
While most of the car details given by the accused were false, Sayyed had mistakenly given his actual phone number. The police tracked the phone using its IMEI number and arrested Sayyed on July 1, 2009.
“Sayyed confessed that he was a car thief and a habitual chain snatcher. There were cases against him at the Sion, Matunga, RAK Marg, Worli, Nehru Nagar, Ghatkopar and Goregaon police stations,” said another officer.
Sayyed said he used to be a mechanic and driver. He took to crime for his family. He has six children. The officer said: “He would steal cars and then use them to snatch chains.”