Cops catch thief at marathon before victim could finish filing FIR

when Soman was about to wave the flag, two youngsters on a bike raced through the crowd and snatched the phone from the hands of Madhuchand Patnaik, a Pinkathon member

Cops catch thief at marathon before victim could finish filing FIR

Milind Soman along with other members of Pinkathon at Shivaji Park police station

The city police managed to catch a mobile phone thief within an hour of him snatching it from a participant of the Pinkathon marathon at Shivaji Park. Actor and patron of Pinkathon, Milind Soman, had reached Shivaji Park in the wee hours of Thursday to flag off the run between Mumbai and Pune when the phone snatching incident happened.

On Thursday morning, the Pinkathon run between Mumbai and Pune was about to be flagged off. Around 5.30am, when Soman was about to wave the flag, two youngsters on a bike raced through the crowd and snatched the phone from the hands of Madhuchand Patnaik, a Pinkathon member. The bikers then raced towards Siddhivinayak Temple, leaving everyone shocked in their wake.

Pinkathon members rushed to Shivaji Park police station to report the matter. Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Jagtap, who was on duty, immediately informed his team of police sub-inspector Sangram Patil and his staff as well as Inspector Vijay Kadam of Dadar Police station who was on night-duty near Siddhivinayak Temple. "As soon as the message was relayed, the cops were alerted and within 20 minutes they had nabbed a biker near Agar Bazar. When he was grilled, the phone was found on him," said an officer from Shivaji Park Police station. "The accused has been identified as Pankaj Solanki, 20, a resident of Lower Parel," the officer said. "We will arrest the other biker soon," said Suryakant Gaikwad, senior inspector.

Soman, who had accompanied the members to the police station, was surprised to know the thief was arrested before they could finish registering the FIR.

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