Mumbai Crime: Stole bikes to impress girlfriends, says teen to cop

Stolen scooter

A 13-year-old Std VIII student has been caught by the Trombay police for stealing four two-wheelers from the area in order to 'impress' his many 'girlfriends'. The police said the boy also stole petrol from other bikes to fuel the ones he stole. Traffic constable Narayan Gadekar, 47, attached to Bandra traffic division, caught the boy at the Bandra Highway signal on Sunday. The boy was with his girlfriend and he was returning home from Bandstand on the stolen bike. Police said the boy used to steal bikes using the master key of his bicycle.

Gadekar told mid-day, "On Sunday evening, I was on duty at the signal and I stopped a boy on an Activa for breaking the signal and riding without a helmet. I asked for his licence but he said he had forgotted it at home, which is near the police chowkie at Bandra. I could see he was trying to escape and stopped him and clicked his photographs."

Narayan Gadekar

Gadekar added, "I decided to check his vehicle number on my system and called on the number given. That's when I found that the scooter was stolen and the owner had registered a complaint at Trombay police station in November. I informed the Trombay police and the owner of the bike. I then searched for the boy in Trombay area with the help of the photo I had taken of him. With the help of locals I managed to nab him and handed him over to the Trombay police station."

Gadekar said, "The boy confessed that he had been stealing bikes only for his girlfriends who lived in Dharavi, Bandra, Sion and other places, and stole petrol from other bikes." Senior inspector Shiddeshwar Gove of Govandi police station said, "We have produced the boy in court and sent him to the Dongri remand home."

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