Man held for stealing auto-rickshaws in Navi Mumbai; 18 vehicles seized

Thane: Police on Sunday claimed to have solved the cases of thefts of 18 auto-rickshaws with the arrest of a man in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township.

On February 10, a police team during night patrolling in Panvel area spotted a man, who resembled the person seen in the CCTV footage of the area stealing an auto-rickshaw.

The police tried to stop him, but he fled in an auto-rickshaw. After a chase of 4 km, the police nabbed the man with the help of locals, Panvel Town police station's senior inspector Nitin Thackeray said.

The accused has been identified as Nisar Sattar Khan (36), hailing from Mehkar in Buldhana district and residing at Kacchi Mohalla in Panvel area of Navi Mumbai, he said.

During interrogation, he told the police that since the last one year, he had stolen 18 auto-rickshaws in Panvel town, Kalamboli, Kamote police station limits and sold them in Buldhana, the official said.

A police team subsequently went to Buldhana and recovered all the 18 vehicles, the official said.

The accused had erased the chasis and engine number of one of the vehicles and it was not yet ascertained to whom it belonged, he said.

The seized auto-rickshaws are valued at Rs 12.45 lakh, he added.