Teen traces bike, nabs thief in 90 minutes

The accused were questioned by police and identified as Mohammed Lukman Alam (20) and Mohammed Junaid Iliyas (20) – both labourers who worked at construction sites in Taloja.

Navi Mumbai: A 19-year-old second-year student from Taloja, along with his cousin traced and nabbed a bike thief within one and half hours of his bike being stolen. Swapnil Mhatre, son of a farmer and a second-year Pharmacy student was sleeping in the evening when his mother woke him up and told him that the bike which was parked outside their house, is not to be seen.

Swapnil Mhatre, son of a farmer and a second-year Pharmacy student was sleeping in the evening when his mother woke him up and told him that the bike was missing (HT PHOTO)

Mhatre said, “My elder brother who came back from college at around 5.30 pm, had parked the bike near the main door of our house. The house is road facing and while half of the bike was inside our compound, half was outside. The key was on the bike itself.”

He said that after realising the bike was missing, he started asking people around and one of the neighbours told that she saw two men riding the bike towards Rohinjan village.

Mhatre then along with his cousin Atish Mhatre, left searching for the bike. However, they could not find the bike. Mhatre remembered that there was not enough petrol on the bike and the accused would have gone to a petrol pump. They went towards a petrol pump on the Panvel-Mumbra highway and saw two unidentified men riding the bike.

“The accused had filled the petrol and left from the pump when we noticed them. We started following them and asked them to stop but they did not. Finally, we overtook them and forcibly made them stop,” said Mhatre.

“By then people gathered at the spot since the two men fell off the bike during the chase. When the public learnt that they were thieves, they assaulted the duo and took them to the police station,” Mhatre added.

By the time Mhatre found his bike back, it had little damage. The accused were questioned by police and identified as Mohammed Lukman Alam (20) and Mohammed Junaid Iliyas (20) – both labourers who worked at construction sites in Taloja.

“The accused had minor injuries due to the assault by public but no admission was required. We registered a theft and attempt to theft case against them and served notice of appearance before police officer under section 41 A (1) of Code of Criminal Procedure,” said the police.