Man arrested for stealing car in Navi Mumbai after posing as passenger

The logo of a car that an accused stole got him arrested after the unit II of the Navi Mumbai crime branch went through the CCTV footage of at least three toll nakas

The logo of a car that an accused stole led to his arrest after the unit II of the Navi Mumbai crime branch went through the CCTV footage of at least three toll nakas.

A 31-year-old man was arrested for stealing a car after posing as passenger. A logo on the car led the police to his arrest in Navi Mumbai. (HT FILE PHOTO)

On August 8, the accused, identified as Mahendrapratap, alias Ankit Gyanendra Singh (31), and his two wanted accomplices had robbed a man of his car and cash in Kalamboli after posing as passengers.

“The car had a sticker logo on the rear side that we were trying to locate. After checking the footage of Kharghar, Vashi and Dhansar toll nakas, we got the first clue about the car,” senior police inspector Giridhar Gore from Unit II, Navi Mumbai crime branch said.

The police then worked on the dump data of the location and zeroed in on a few suspicious contact numbers and then found the accused. “The accused was nabbed from New Panvel. By the time he was arrested, his two accomplices had fled to Uttar Pradesh,” Gore added.

Singh had planned to take the car to Uttar Pradesh to sell it there but then he was nabbed. The accused had conducted similar crimes in Khopoli as well. Following the arrest, the police seized the car that was stolen in the Khopoli case and are in search of the car stolen in the Kalamboli case.

“The trio has a record of conducting similar crimes under the jurisdiction of Manpada, Samtanagar and NRI Coastal Police. In most cases, the accused just flee with valuables after posing as a passenger, and hence many don’t register cases. In incidents where they make away with the car, the complainant comes ahead and registers a complaint,” Gore added.

The modus operandi of the accused were to take lift from highways from random cars and then ask the drivers to stop at an isolated place under the pretext of answering nature’s call and then rob the driver at knife point.