Man who stole car parts to pay for his girlfriend’s shopping arrested

A 28-year-old man in Mumbai was arrested for stealing car parts to pay for his girlfriend's shopping. He had stolen electronic control modules and injectors from hundreds of cars in parking lots over the past year. The police tracked him down and found 98 stolen car parts in his possession.

Mumbai: A 28-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stealing electronic control modules (ECM) and injectors from hundreds of cars in parking lots across the northern suburbs over the past year.

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According to the police, the accused resorted to stealing car parts to be able to pay for his girlfriend’s shopping.

According to the MIDC police, the accused, identified as Mohsin Mehboob Shaikh, a resident of Kurar village in Malad East, was arrested after several months of tracking.

The police officers said that Gorakhnath Jadhav, 40, a resident of Narayan Nagar Chawl on Jijamata Road in Andheri East had approached them claiming that several cars parked in the area were targetted and their ECMs, injectors stolen. Jadhav claimed that it was the first time that such thefts had taken place in their locality.

The police prepared a team of four officers, who began scanning more than 50 CCTVs in the locality and other areas to identify the robber.

“The recordings we acquired were not clear and did not help us in identifying the robber,” said a police officer from MIDC Police station. The officers then activated their network of informers who told them that a huge number of ECMs and injectors had been sold to several garage owners in Malad East.

On questioning the garage owners, the officers found out that a man named Shaikh had sold 36 ECMs to him from petrol, diesel and CNG cars worth ₹2.80 lakh in the past year.

They police managed to get the address of Shaikh’s girlfriend and then laid a trap in Kurar village where the accused was seen with a woman on a two-wheeler on Saturday.

Spotting the police, Shaikh tried to flee but was nabbed. “On searching his house, the police found 98 ECMs and injectors, which he had robbed from various parking lots across the northern suburbs,” said a police officer.

On questioning Shaikh, confessed to the thefts and said that he had spent the entire amount on his girlfriend’s shopping.