Mumbai Crime: Cops finally catch up with Dahisar's tomato thief

After a month-long search, the Dahisar police on Tuesday finally caught the thief who had stolen 30 crates containing 900 kg of tomatoes belonging to a vegetable vendor

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After a month-long search, the Dahisar police on Tuesday finally caught the thief who had stolen 30 crates containing 900 kg of tomatoes belonging to a vegetable vendor. Cops said the accused, Chandrashekhar Radheshyam Gupta, 54, had been arrested a few years ago for stealing a huge consignment of bananas from Chembur.

Gupta is a driver and was held with his tempo, in which he had escaped with the stolen tomatoes. According to the police he runs a transport service called Shree Samarth Krupa Transport.

Also read - Mumbai: Thief makes away with 30 crates of tomatoes in Dahisar

Spotted on CCTV
The FIR in the case was lodged by vegetable vendor Shyamlal Shrivastav on July 17, after 900 kg of tomatoes worth Rs 60,000 were stolen from a godown in Dahisar East.

Cops zeroed in on Gupta's tempo truck after spotting it on the CCTV footage while investigating the case. They saw the name of the company printed on the tempo. Working on the lead for close to a month, the cops traced the vehicle and arrested Gupta.

Gupta is a resident of Kurla and used to pick up and deliver vegetables and fruits for various vendors from the Vashi market.

However, this is not his first time stealing consignments. While interrogating him, cops found that he was booked for stealing a consignment of bananas from Chembur a few years ago.

"We arrested the accused on Tuesday from Kurla. He was produced before the court today [yesterday] from where he was remanded in police custody till August 18," said Vasant Pingle, senior police inspector from Dahisar police station. Cops have also recovered empty crates from him and are now looking for other accused who bought the stolen consignment of tomatoes from the accused.

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