Mumbai woman turns detective to recover laptop she left behind in auto rickshaw

A Mumbai woman turned detective to trace her laptop within 18 hours of leaving it behind in the auto rickshaw she had travelled in.

According to the Vikhroli police, who aided the woman, Pallavi Rangavajhala, the incident took place last Friday. Rangavajhala had hailed an auto rickshaw from Vikhroli to go towards Goregaon and had halted midway to collect a parcel.

Rangavajhala then reached home, but had forgotten her laptop bag in the auto rickshaw – something she realised only the following morning

“On Saturday morning, I realised that I left the laptop in the rickshaw. I immediately rushed to the Malad police station and filed a complaint. However, the police told me not to keep my hopes up, as only a genuine person would return the laptop,” she told DNA.

However, Rangavajhala did not lose hope and sought the help of auto rickshaw unions and the police to obtain CCTV footage. Through some perseverance, she managed to get the driver’s details. She then went to the spot in Vikhroli where she had hailed the auto, and on asking people, found out that one of them lived in the same locality as the driver. “She told me that she saw him taking the laptop to his home and added that it belonged to him,” she said.

Meanwhile, the police managed to trace the auto driver and ordered him to come to the police station.

“The driver returned my laptop to me. He admitted that he had hidden the laptop under the driver’s seat when I had gone to collect the parcel,” Rangavajhala said, adding that the complaint was withdrawn.