2 Mumbai college students learn bike hacks from YouTube, steal 10 scooters

According to police, the duo – Avinash Kashid, 22, a Charkop resident, and Rupesh Ghadshi, 21, a Malad resident – used to refer to online videos on unlocking a scooter after losing its keys. They functioned in the wee hours to ensure nobody saw them and the CCTV cameras didn’t capture them clearly.

Two college students, who allegedly stole 10 scooters from the northern suburbs, thanks to the tricks they picked up from YouTube videos, have been arrested from Malad. While nine thefts were committed through 2018, the last one was reported on January 1.

Police have recovered nine scooters from the accused duo.

According to police, the duo – Avinash Kashid, 22, a Charkop resident, and Rupesh Ghadshi, 21, a Malad resident – used to refer to online videos on unlocking a scooter after losing its keys. They functioned in the wee hours to ensure nobody saw them and the CCTV cameras didn’t capture them clearly.

After the theft, they used to park the vehicles in secluded areas for a few days, after which they sold them. “They sold at least five bikes, telling buyers they would provide the documents soon,” said a police source.

Kashid was arrested on Tuesday, who then led the police to Ghadshi, who was arrested on Wednesday.

The city saw 2,960 cases of motor vehicle thefts last year, of which 1,167 cases were solved. The number of cases filed in 2017 was 2,636, of which 818 were detected.

“We have recovered nine scooters so far. Six of them were stolen from Malad, while one each from Kandivli, Charkop and Borivli police station,” said George Fernandes, senior police inspector, Malad police station said.

The duo has been booked under section 379 of the IPC and is currently in police custody.

In February last year, the MIDC police had come across a similar case, where the two accused had committed a burglary at a beer shop in Andheri after watching a YouTube video on how to break locks. The duo was arrested when they returned to burgle another shop on March 12.