Commerce PG degree holder held for vehicle thefts in Thane

An official on Thursday said that the police have arrested a former data entry operator at an IT company who allegedly stole several autorickshaws in Maharashtras Thane city to fund his liquor addiction reported news agency PTIThe accused a postgraduate in commerce who had also worked as a driver at Dubai airport learnt the theft techniques from information available on social media platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp Naupada police stations senior inspector Abhay Mahajan said reported PTIThe man would steal an autorickshaw operate it until the fuel ran out and then abandon it The fares he collected were used to purchase liquor to which he got addicted after his wife left him some years back due to which he had been depressed the official saidThe police have seized four stolen autorickshaws a motorcycle and Rs 330 lakh cash from the accused who had also worked as a data entry operator at an Information Technology firm he said reported PTIFollowing a complaint about a missing autorickshaw in Naupada area of the city the police started a probe and examined footage of 70 to 80 CCTVs near the incident spot and other routesThis led to the identification of the accused a resident of Mumbra area here the official saidOn Monday the police got information that the accused was planning to visit Naupada area again with the intention of stealing another autorickshawThe police laid a trap and apprehended the accused the official saidDuring interrogation the accused told the police about his involvement in autorickshaw thefts in various localities across the city including Naupada Wagle Estate and Rabodi he said reported PTIBased on his questioning the police have so far detected seven cases of autorickshaw theft registered at the Naupada Rabodi and Wagle Estate police stations the official saidThree other cases were earlier registered against the accused at the Naupada Kopri both in Thane and Vakola in Mumbai police stations for autorickshaw thefts he saidEight held for extorting Rs 35 crore from Palghar resident through digital arrestIn another incident the police have arrested eight persons including three siblings from Maharashtra Gujarat and Bihar for allegedly extracting Rs 35 crore from a senior citizen after trapping him in a digital arrest an official said on Wednesday reported PTIPolice have also frozen Rs 22 lakh of the extorted money parked in different bank accountsA digital arrest is a cybercrime where conmen trick people into believing they are under arrest The fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officials to extort money reported PTIThe victim a resident of Palghar district was targeted between December 18 last year and February 10With inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params