Mumbai: Auto driver held for stealing coconuts from shop in Powai

The 44-year-old auto driver.

A 44-year-old auto driver has been arrested for stealing coconuts at night, a police official said on Thursday. The police arrested an auto-rickshaw driver in Powai who had a habit of stealing coconuts in order to earn more money.

The accused has been identified as Ashfaq Ghaffar Khan (44).

According to police sources, a coconut seller who resides in Andheri's Marol area has a coconut shop in Powai. Usually, a supplier delivered coconuts to his shop early in the morning.

"Around 200 coconuts were stolen from his shop twice in the past two months. But he didn't complain because he had a street business. Due to the high demand for coconuts during Ganeshotsav, the seller placed an order for 100 coconuts three days ago. As agreed, the supplier delivered the coconut early in the morning. A carpet was put on top to prevent the coconuts from being stolen. But, the next morning on Wednesday when the coconut seller came to his shop, he saw that all coconuts were stolen from the shop. Later he rushed to the Powai police station and registered a complaint," said an officer from the Powai police station.

Also Read: Maharashtra logs 781 new Covid-19 cases, 4 deaths

The investigation was started by the team of Assistant Inspector Vinod Patil under the supervision of Senior Inspector Budhan Sawant. The police examined the CCTV footage of the area. In one of the footage, they saw the number of an auto-rickshaw.

They collect the information from the RTO and detain the accused driver from the Aarey Colony area.

"During the interrogation, the auto driver confessed to stealing the coconut. As he was unable to meet his household expenses by driving an auto rickshaw, he started stealing to earn more money," informed the police official.

"In the early hours of the morning, he does reiki and steals the coconut whenever he gets a chance. Later he used to sell the stolen coconuts at a low price to other people," said another officer.

The auto driver has been booked and arrested under various sections of IPC and produced before the court where he has remanded for two days of police custody the officer added further.