Man held for stealing travel agency’s car

A 30-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for threatening a travel agency’s car driver with a knife and escaping with his company car.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for threatening a travel agency’s car driver with a knife and escaping with his company car.

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The accused, Hamid Umar Shaikh, is a Mumbra resident and has two similar cases registered against him with the Kasturba police.

On Saturday night, the driver, Sandesh Sawant, employed with Akbar Tours and Travels, was returning from Borivli after dropping an airline staff member in a red Maruti Dezire (registration number MH-43-D-5652). He was on the Western Express Highway near Borivli east when a man came in front of his car and signalled him to stop.

Shaikh entered the car and sat next to Sawant. He threatened the driver with a knife and directed him to drive towards Aarey Colony. The driver obeyed and after reaching a secluded spot, Shaikh pushed Sawant out of the vehicle and drove away.

Sawant then visited the Kasturba police, who matched Sawant’s description of his assailant to Shaikh, who had committed similar offences in their jurisdiction. They then received a tip-off that Shaikh was to meet a dealer near Shiv Mahal hotel in Thane-Pune Highway, said Rajendra Thakur, senior police inspector of Kasturba police station.

When police saw Shaikh arrive at the hotel in the stolen red car with the same registration number given by Sawant, they arrested him. He admitted to committing similar offences in the past, said the police.