Bhayandar: The broken number plate of a motorcycle helped Kashimira police in tracking down its rider who was involved in a series of chain snatching cases in the twin-city. Alarmed by the sudden spurt in chain snatching cases, Thane (rural) SP Dr Shivaji Rathod had ordered intensified vigil in the region. The CCTV images captured by the CCTV cameras near one of the crime spots, showed a helmet-wearing suspect moving around on a bike with a broken number plate.
Armed with prints of the captured images, police personnel fanned the entire area. On duty beat marshals from the Kashimira police station spotted a parked bike which resembled the wanted one owing to the distinctly broken number plate.
“After verifications, our team maintained round-the-clock surveillance for three continuous days and finally apprehended the suspect identified as Shams Ali Syed (21) when he came to take the bike. Interestingly, the accused single handedly executed the crime,” said Senior Police Inspector Vaibhav Shingare.
After rounds of sustained interrogation, the accused admitted to his involvement in six chain snatching cases in the twin-city. The police have also recovered stolen ornaments worth around Rs 5 lakh from the possession of the accused who is said to be a resident of Mumbai who frequently visited his relatives in Mira Road.