Police said the accused, Kuldeep Joshi, who was arrested on Thursday, has confessed to stealing bikes in the lockdown
Thanks to a group of alert locksmiths in Andheri East, a thief who would come to Mumbai from Kutch just to steal, is behind the bars. The police have found that the accused has many theft cases against him.
The 23-year-old accused identified as Kuldeep Amrutlal Joshi, is a resident of Kutch, Gujarat. Zafar Shaikh, Anwar Shaikh and Asif Shaikh run a key-making shop outside Andheri East Railway station. Joshi had approached them seeking duplicate keys.
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'Asked for identity proof'
Zafar Shaikh said, "On Thursday at around 3pm, a customer came pushing a Bullet bike to our shop. He told me that his bike key was missing and asked us to make a duplicate. My partner Anwar started making the key. Whenever we make duplicate keys of a bike or flat, we always ask for the customer's identity card to verify him/her. This customer gave his Aadhaar card and I saw the address was in Gujarat. I felt this was suspicious and told my colleague to keep the customer busy in the key-making process. Then I went and brought the police to our shop. They arrested him."
Zafar Shaikh, Anwar Shaikh and Asif Shaikh (they are not related) who run the key-making business
A police officer from Andheri police station said, "While taking the accused to the police station he pushed a police officer and tried to run away. But we chased him for about 100 metres and caught him."
'Stolen Activa was for recces'
Sub-Inspector Digambar Pagar of Andheri police station said, "The accused only stole Bullet bikes and then sold them in Kutch for lakhs of rupees. He has confessed to stealing bikes in the lockdown. There are police records against the accused in dozens of cases of bike robbery. We recovered one stolen Bullet and one Activa from him. The Activa he stole to travel in Mumbai while selecting targets for robbery. There is also a case against him under the POCSO Act in Ghatkopar."
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