Mumbai Police solves 50 auto rickshaw theft cases with 4 arrests

Police said they first scanned CCTV recordings of the parking lots after receiving more than six complaints of rickshaw theft in the area in one month

The Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested four members of a gang suspected to be involved in more than 50 cases of robbing auto rickshaws and reselling them at dirt cheap prices quickly.

The four arrested accused told police they had sold more than 50 stolen auto rickshaws to random people for ₹5,000 each. (AFP Photo/Representative)

According to the officers at the Aarey sub police station, the accused, identified as Samad Shaikh (24), Sufiyan Khan (25), Rafiq Khan (24) and Amir Bhatt (25), were arrested from their houses in Powai.

Police said they first scanned CCTV recordings of the parking lots after receiving more than six complaints of rickshaw theft in the area in one month and further zeroed on suspects by studying cell tower locations of people detected in the locality at the time of the thefts.

The four arrested accused told police they had sold more than 50 stolen auto rickshaws to random people for ₹5,000 each. On further investigation, police found that the buyers had rented out the auto rickshaws for ₹300 a day.

“We have recovered six rickshaws till now and are investigating further. The four have been arrested for theft and will be presented before the court,” said a police officer from Aarey Sub police station.