GPS helps cops trace stolen car within hours

PUNE: The Hinjewadi police traced within four hours a car after a Mumbai resident was robbed of it by a person at Wakad chowk on Saturday evening. The car, worth Rs 6.50 lakh, was fitted with Global Positioning System, which helped in getting it back immediately.
The police have arrested the carjacker, Pradip Alhat (35), a resident of Gawarewadi in Hinjewadi. The owner of the car, Akash Salve (23), stays in Mumbai university staff quarters at Kalina in Mumbai.

Salve had come to Pune on Saturday for some work. . “While returning to Mumbai in the evening, a stranger stopped me at Wakad and requested me to take him to Mumbai,” Salve told TOI.

Salve said as there was nobody else in the car, he decided to give him a lift. “When we reached Wakad chowk, the person told me that two of his friends, too, wanted to go to Vashi and requested me to take them in the car,” Salve added.

Salve then stopped the car along the road. “The person told me that his friends were standing on the other side of the road. I got down from the car to locate them. I did not remove the key from the ignition as the music system was on,” Salve said.

As Salve was walking away from the car, the stranger took control of it and sped away towards Mumbai. “A college student offered me a lift on his motorcycle and we tried to chase my car, but after some time we lost sight of it,” Salve said.

“I decided to track the car through GPS with the help of police as my cellphone’s battery was running down,” Salve said.

Police constable R G Tilekar, who was stationed at the Wakad police chowkey, immediately alerted the in-charge of the police station, senior inspector Satish Mane, and began the search operation along with Salve in a private vehicle. “Because of the GPS, we were able to track the car within an hour. It was parked in a parking lot near a marriage hall in Hinjewadi,” Tilekar said.

“After noticing the car, we decided to lay a trap to nab the thief. By that time, a police team comprising constables Bibhishan Kanherkar, Vijay Kudal, R Bhikule had reached near the spot,” Tilekar said.

Around 8.30pm Salve received a message on his cellphone that the car’s engine was being started. “We immediately rushed towards the car and nabbed Alhat, who was in the driver’s seat,” Tilekar said.