Mumbai: Thief escapes from court, jumps into Mithi, gets caught again

A court order remanding him to police custody made Mohammad Sajjad Ali Shaikhrsquos head swim The 24yearold arrested by the Chembur police for a theft yesterday then did what he thought in his naiveteacute was the best escape plan jump into the Mithi river and swim towards freedom He however failed to account for the resourcefulness of the police and was caught near the BKC bridge againAlso Read Mumbai Cop breaks down as thief jumps off bridge to escapeMohammad Sajjad Ali Shaikh breaks free pushes cops aside at the Kurla metropolitan magistrate court and jumps into the Mithi river through a broken wall IllustrationsRavi JadhavShaikh allegedly snatched the bag of an acquaintance during a tiff yesterday and decamped with it Based on a complaint from the alleged victim the Chembur police arrested him and produced him in the afternoon before the Kurla metropolitan magistrate court for a custody hearing The Mithi river flows beside the courtRead Story Car thief smells cop trap kicks khabri and escapesAs cops alert the control room Shaikh swims towards the BKC bridgeShaikh was escorted to the court by a subinspector and two constables from the Chembur police stationThe magistrate remanded him in police custody till July 25Once he reaches the bridge he spots the police waiting for him The cops throw down a rope for him which he initially refuses He finally latches onto it when his strength gives inI spyAfter being escorted out of the court around 330 pm the youth was put inside the police van parked near a broken compound wall of the premisesSensing an opportunity to escape Shaikh pushed the police escort aside and jumped through the hole in the wall into the Mithi river He then began swimming towards the BKC bridge half a kilometre awayA Chembur police official said one of the shaken constables unwittingly jumped into the Mithi river but couldnrsquot chase after Shaikh since he doesnrsquot know how to swimThe police then alerted the control room which directed BKC and Kurla police to take charge at the BKC bridgeTaking chargeAccordingly some seven policemen from the BKC police station led by Inspector Kalim Shaikh and another dozen personnel from the Kurla police station led by senior inspector Lalasaheb Shette blocked Shaikhrsquos escape route via the BKC bridgeAlso Read Mobile thief held after leaping off running train in handcuffs 3 years agoldquoWe could see that Shaikh had swum quite a distance and he was breathing hard The Mithi was rough due to rain On reaching BKC Shaikh spotted us on the bridgerdquo said SheeteRefused to give inDespite all his escape routes being blocked Shaikh refused to give in ldquoWe told him that surrender was his only option left unless he wanted to drown in the Mithi He refused to come ashore and kept swimming at the spot We threw him a rope Finally realising that any more resistance was futile he grabbed the rope and we pulled him ashorerdquo said KalimThe escape drama lasted some 45 minutes Shaikh was then booked by the Kurla police under Section 224 resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension of the IPC Once the Chembur police are done with their case the Kurla police will claim his custody