Navi Mumbai crime branch bust inter-state gang of car thieves

Navi Mumbai Crime Branch arrests two individuals involved in stealing vehicles and selling them for criminal activities such as drug smuggling.

Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch Unit I busted a vehicle theft gang and arrested two individuals involved in tactfully stealing vehicles from Navi Mumbai. The stolen vehicles were subsequently sold to individuals in different states, primarily used in criminal activities such as drug smuggling. The arrested culprits are identified as Mohammad Faiz Akbar Ali Shaikh, 48, hailing from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and Mohammad Shamim Mohammad Shafi Shaikh, 35 from Sakinaka in Mumbai.

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The modus operandi of the accused involved stealing the Engine Control Module (ECM) and Body Control Module (BCM) from vehicles with a history of accidents, marked as scrap. “ECN and BCM are like the brain and heart of a vehicle. If one has that, no key is required to start the vehicle. The accused used to steal both the devices from scrapped vehicles and then use it on the vehicle they intended to steal and start the ignition,” senior police inspector Abasaheb Patil from unit I of the Crime Branch, said.

The Crime Branch Unit I initiated a parallel investigation after three cars were stolen in January from Rabale police station. The team identified the accused through CCTV footage and technical analysis. Assistant police inspector Nilesh Patil said, “Since the accused were history sheeters, they were identified from the footage and we worked on the technical investigation and found the first accused from Meerut.” After the arrest of the first accused, the location of the second one was revealed.

The accused committed a total of 26 offenses, with 19 cases where they were wanted and had been previously arrested in 17 cases. Another accomplice from the gang is currently wanted by the authorities. The crimes spanned various locations, including Rabale, Samtanagar, Kasarvadvali, Manpada in Thane, and Ahmednagar district.

In the investigations, police also found that on January 11, when the accused were fleeing after stealing a four-wheeler in Ahmednagar, they rammed into a two-wheeler and the rider died on the spot following which the accused abandoned the stolen car and fled from the spot.