Traffic ticket leads man to his stolen autorickshaw in Mumbai

Mithlesh Mandal (left) with his auto, which has been stripped of the seats, two tyres and meter

An e-challan from the traffic department may not be a pleasant delivery on anyone's mobile phone, but it certainly brightened Mithlesh Mandal's world. For, the ticket took Mandal to his autorickshaw that was stolen three months ago, snatching his only means of survival. Though the vehicle has been stripped of the seat, tyres and the meter, Mandal can't stop thanking the RTO.

A resident of Jay Bhawani Chawl on the Goregaon Mulund Link Road in Malad West, Mandal received an e-challan on Thursday asking him to pay Rs 500 for parking his auto in a no-parking area near the Bandra rail terminus.

Mandal, 45, said, "In October 2021, my colleague Manoj Sharma parked the auto on SV Road in Goregaon West and gave me the keys. The next morning I found the auto missing. I filed a complaint at Malad police station."

He said life soon became a serious struggle. "I live with my wife and two kids. We depended on the income from the auto. With that source gone, I was quite depressed."

While he has got back his auto, he will need to shell out money to use it. He said, "Two tyres, the seats and even the meter have been stolen. I will need to spend about Rs 20,000 to ferry passengers. The police haven't yet found who had stolen the auto."

Sources from the police department said the auto was being used for the past two months.

About the fine message on Thursday, Mandal said, "I rushed to the Malad police station. The officers contacted the Bandra railway cops and traffic police but they couldn't trace the vehicle. Later, the Malad police found the auto at Bandra railway terminus."

The auto driver is hopeful of making a fresh beginning. "I will repair my vehicle and start work again soon. I am really thankful to the RTO officer for sending a challan to me due to which my stolen auto could be traced. The police should also arrest the person behind the theft."

Suresh Bhale, assistant inspector of traffic, told mid-day, "When we come across such vehicles, we impose a fine first. If we find anything suspicious, we try to look for the owner. We understand the auto driver faced many problems after his vehicle was stolen."

An officer from Malad police station said, "The odometer reading shows that the vehicle was being used until recently. We will arrest the person soon."

Oct
Month last year when Mandal's auto was stolen