Mumbai: Yellow Gate Police arrested notorious duo on Thursday, who robbed motorcycles in Mumbai and neighbouring areas and stashed it away in Navi Mumbai for further sale. The two arrested accused, identified as Meraz Shaikh (19) and Mustaaq Lalbabu Mansuri alias Salman (19), had robbed more than 50 motorcycles while the police recovered a total of 29 two-wheelers worth Rs 6.30 lakhs from the duo.
According to police sources, Shaikh’s role was that of a mastermind in the entire bike theft racket. On Jan 3, Harshad Koli (25), registered a complaint at Yellow Gate police station, claiming his bike (MH 02 CF 4707) was robbed near Bhaucha Dhakka petrol pump. He mentioned in his complaint, his bike was parked at the venue for some time and 30 minutes later it went missing despite locking it properly. A case of theft was registered but the investigation of the case was difficult as the accused had left no trail.
The CCTV footage of the premises outside Bhaucha Dhakka revealed Shaikh decamping with the bike, in which Shaikh was wearing a cap having a picture imprinted on it. On Jan 5, Shaikh came wearing the same cap with a motive to rob another bike with a set of master keys he used to decamp with motorcycles.
When he was spotted with a similar attire and same cap, he was tipped off to the police and arrested, said police. During interrogation, Shaikh revealed his accomplice’s name, Salman, following which he too was arrested. Further investigation revealed that the duo has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC pertaining to theft registered at different police stations of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai including Nerul, Belapur and Kharghar. The duo was produced in a court on Friday and were remanded to police custody till Tuesday, while police are investigating the case further.