Mumbai: Chance pe dance lands casual robbers in soup

The Dindoshi police have arrested four auto drivers who made off with a bag containing gold and cash worth Rs 10 lakh in total that a burglar had abandoned while being chased by Malad East residents Police said the pursuers were so focused on getting hold of the man that they didnrsquot keep track of the bag Later on after scanning CCTV footage the cops learnt that the bag was stolen by a group of auto drivers who were traced to Nalasopara and promptly arrestedShafiqullah Ateequllah aka Sonu the thief who abandoned the bagThe thief Shafiqullah Ateequllah alias Sonu 27 and auto drivers Rajkumar Sevaram Mangaliya 46 Abbas Asgar Zarwala 57 Ashfaq Abdulgani Shaikh 48 and Imamuddin Yakub Patel 51 were produced before the Borivli Metropolitan Magistrate court and remanded in police custodyHow everything unfoldedSonu and an associate stole the valuables from a house in Squattersrsquo Colony Malad East in the wee hours of Wednesday While the duo was trying to sneak away hastily with their booty a resident Pradeep Gupta 25 happened to come out of his house After spotting them and suspecting something was amiss he started crying ldquoChorrdquo to alert his neighboursMalad East resident Pradeep Gupta spots the burglars as they are about to flee early on Wednesday morningThe duo then ran towards the main road Gupta who had woken up early as his family prepared to travel to their hometown said ldquoAfter the duo started running I chased them They eventually reached the spot where their Activa was parked One of them tried to start the vehicle while the other Sonu who was carrying the stolen valuables tried to hop on As the rider sped away the pillion rider fell off But he got up and began to run again I pushed him to the ground and a couple of auto drivers beat him but he managed to slip away after throwing the bag on the roadrdquoShafiqullah Ateequllah aka Sonu falls to the ground as his partner in crime accelerates his Activa in a panicGupta said ldquoWhile I was pursuing him a bundle of notes fell from his pocket I picked it up and resumed chasing him The accused escaped into a tiny lane and was soon out of sight Suddenly I heard the ringtone of a mobile phone coming from somewhere I headed in the direction of the sound and caught the accused again He tried to escape but this time I held on to him tight He tried to hit me and we collided into a water drum outside a house My brother and a neighbour then arrived and helped me overpower the accusedrdquoGupta catches up with Sonu after the latter takes to his heels and pushes him to the ground in a bid to recover the valuablesHe added ldquoThe phone that rang in his pocket was stolen from the house along with other valuables Hearing my voice the family woke up and learned about the burglary in their house They were calling the missing phone during the chaserdquoPolicy storyUnder the guidance of Smita Patel DCP Zone 12 and Senior Inspector Irfan Shaikh API Dr Chandrakant Gharge PSI Ajeet Desai Satish Bhalerao and the rest of the detection team began the investigationA wad of notes falls from Sonursquos pocket As Gupta bends to picket up the thief hides in a narrow laneldquoWhen we arrested the accused Rs 75 in cash was recovered from his pocket but the bag containing the valuables and cash was missing On examining CCTV footage we came to know that an auto driver Rajkumar Mangaliya had taken the bag and fled We traced him and caught him in Nalasopara We recovered the bag from himrdquo said an officer from Dindoshi police stationHaving thrown away the bag during the chase Sonu puts up a fight but is eventually overpowered In the chaos a rickshaw driver flees with the bag but is captured by CCTV footageThe Dindoshi police aided by CCTV footage found out the auto driverrsquos identity through his vehicles number plate Subsequently with the assistance of the Regional Transport Office RTO they found out his residential address Further investigation led to the apprehension of other auto drivers implicated in the crime On their arrest the police checked the bag and found cash and jewellery inside The drivers had exchanged numbers and planned to divide the property equally among themselvesThe Dindoshi police nab the auto driver and his accomplices with whom he had conspired to split the booty IllustrationsUday MohiteThe four auto drivers are friends During the inquiry it was revealed Sonu is a Dharavi resident and five cases of burglary had been registered against him Appreciating the bravery with which Gupta had caught the thief he was honoured with a shawl and bouquet at the Dindoshi police stationPradeep Gupta who foiled the burglarrsquos scheme on Wednesday morning5No of accused arrested in case