Cops catch thief who ferried passengers in stolen autos

A notorious auto thief who would steal autorickshaws and ferry passengers late in the night in the MiraBhayandar belt to earn some bucks, has landed into the custody of the Thane (rural) police.

Interestingly, the accused, who has been identified as Sachin Anand Khandare alias Papya (24), would abandon the vehicle once they ran out of petrol or CNG.

Alarmed by the rising cases of auto thefts in the region, Vaibhav Shingare , the recently appointed Senior Police Inspector of Kashimira police station, activated their informer network and intensified their vigil.

Armed with the registration numbers of the stolen vehicles, a night patrol team spotted a suspiciously moving autorickshaw in the Godbunder village area on Friday night. The police personnel stopped the driver for enquiries. On questioning, Papya spelled the beans and confessed to having stolen six autorickshaws in the past couple of weeks.

Based on the information provided by the accused, the police recovered six vehicles. “It has emerged that the accused was arrested in 2013 for his involvement in a similar crime. Booked under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code, the accused has been remanded to police custody till November 20 after he was produced before the Thane Distinct Sessions Court,” said police officer Manohar Taware who is investigating the case.

A notorious auto thief who would steal autorickshaws and ferry passengers late in the night in the MiraBhayandar belt to earn some bucks. The accused, who has been identified as Sachin Anand Khandare alias Papya (24), would abandon the vehicle once they ran out of petrol or CNG.