A 30-year-old man, who had come back from Dubai last October, has been arrested by the Vehicle Theft Detection Cell of the Navi Mumbai police. Eleven motorbikes worth ₹2.30 lakh were recovered from the accused, identified as Nadim Yusuf Shaikh (30), a resident of Sector 20, Ulwe.

According to the police, Mr. Shaikh was working as a driver in Dubai and after he returned to India, he was unable to find a job. “Mr. Shaikh started stealing bikes in December 2018. We found CCTV footage in two cases wherein he is seen stealing bikes parked outside Nerul railway station. He was wearing white chappals and that was the lead. We started inquiries with the help of informers,” senior police inspector Shirish Pawar, who heads the cell, said.

Mr. Shaikh was arrested on Monday. “The accused had kept all the stolen vehicles at various places in Ulwe, which were mostly near to his house. He was planning to sell them,” Mr. Pawar said. The accused is currently in judicial custody.

Mr. Shaikh used to steal bikes during day time by either using duplicate keys or connecting the ignition wires. The police said in some cases, he had an accomplice, who is still at large. With his arrest, the police claimed to have solved nine cases in Nerul, one in Vashi, and one case of RAK police station in Mumbai.

Due to lack of cases in the Anti-Extortion Unit, Navi Mumbai Commissioner Sanjay Kumar in February this year ordered to shut the unit and instead start a vehicle theft detection unit due to the rising number of cases. On an average, at least two vehicles are stolen from the city daily.