Mumbai: Police recover scooter stolen in 2020 after off-duty constable raises alarm

Offduty Police Constable Prasad Sanjay Salunkhe 34 helped crack a sixyearold vehicle theft case after spotting two teenagers with a suspicious scooter at a petrol pump in Borivli West leading to the recovery of a TVS scooter stolen from Bhiwandi in September 2020popcorn numberOctober 12 2020 descDay FIR was filed in connection with theft of scooter classDefaultThe incident took place at around 1030 pm on November 4 at Yoginagar petrol pump Constable Prasad Sanjay Salunkhe 34 who is attached to the Motor Transport Department at Nagpada had stopped to fill petrol in his own twowheeler when he noticed two youths with a scooter bearing the word lsquoPolicersquo Its rear number plate was missing although the registration number MH 04 KJ 3038 was visible at the frontSalunkhe questioned the youths aged 14 and 17 but they failed to give satisfactory answers He then alerted Borivli traffic police constable Sushant Mohite who was patrolling nearbyMohite checked the registration details through the echallan system and traced the vehicle to its registered owner Santosh Ramji Vaghela a Bhiwandi resident When contacted Vaghela revealed that the scooter had been stolen in 2020 and shared a copy of the FIR registered at Bhiwandi City police stationThe youths could not produce the vehiclersquos documents Salunkhe and Mohite subsequently took them and the scooter to MHB Colony police station and handed them over to the police for further actionAn MHB police officer confirmed that the seized scooter had been stolen from Bhiwandi in 2020 ldquoWe have informed Bhiwandi City police about the recovery of the stolen vehiclerdquo the officer saidBorivli Traffic Division Senior Inspector Ashok Pardhi praised Mohite for his commendable work in helping recover the stolen scooterThe theftAccording to the original complaint Vaghela had purchased the TVS scooter in 2019 for approximately 30000 On September 15 2020 at around 11 pm he parked and locked it below his building near Kotargate Masjid in Bhiwandi before going home When he came downstairs at around 8 am the following day the scooter was missingAfter searching the surrounding areas without success he approached Bhiwandi City police station where an FIR was registered on October 12 2020Speaking to midday Vaghela 48 said he was surprised to receive a traffic challan of 10000 on his mobile phone on November 4 apparently in connection with the scooter being driven without a valid licence He subsequently received a call from the traffic police informing him that his stolen vehicle had been traced ldquoI was informed that my scooter had been recovered and handed over to MHB Colony police However I do not want to take it back until the police arrest those responsible for stealing it and establish how it reached their possessionrdquo he saidVaghela added ldquoI am financially capable and somehow managed to bear the loss But imagine the situation of a poor person who buys a motorcycle on loan and then loses it to theft The financial and mental trauma can be devastating My only demand is that everyone involved in the theft be identified and arrestedrdquoIn their own wordsPrasad Sanjay Salunkhe Police constablelsquoI had gone to the petrol pump to fill fuel in my own twowheeler when I noticed the suspicious scooter Its rear number plate was missing while the registration number was displayed at the front The word lsquoPolicersquo written on it further caught my attention When I questioned the youths they could not give satisfactory answers so I alerted constable Mohite who was patrolling nearby After confirming that the scooter was stolen we took the boys and the vehicle to MHB Colony police station and handed them over to the officers We returned after informing the police about the incident I have no information about the subsequent actionrsquoSushant Mohite Traffic constablelsquoThere were around four echallans against the scooter Had its registration number been put on the alert list immediately after the theft it could possibly have been recovered much earlier As instructed by senior officers we thoroughly verify every suspicious vehicle we come across In this case the checks helped us uncover its theft historyrsquo