16-year-old steals bikes for pocket money, held

A 16-year-old from Kalwa who was on a bike stealing spree in Thane and Mulund was arrested by Kalwa police this week. The teenager has now been sent to remand home.

On February 19, Kalwa police saw Ramakant (name changed) riding a bike near Parsik circle, Mumbra in Thane. "To curb bike thefts in the region, we had set up roadblocks at various locations," says senior police inspector Shekhar Bagade, Kalwa police station. "We saw this youngster on a bike and asked for vehicle documents," he said.

But the teen did not have any documents. He said that he took the bike from a friend to drive around. "During the investigation, he confessed to have stolen vehicles from Mulund and Kalwa in past three months," said Bagade.

The youngster confessed to have stolen three bikes from Kalwa and Mulund, five bikes and a rickshaw from Mumbai. Ramakant, to earn extra pocket money, has been stealing vehicles that were parked on the road since December 2018. Not having faced any police enquiry, he got encouraged further. "He would sell some off these bikes for as paltry sum as Rs 5000. And some bikes he would just drive and leave them on the road after petrol in the vehicle got over," said Bagade. As per the orders by Thane juvenile court, the teen has been sent to children remand home in Bhiwandi.

This is third such case of vehicle theft solved by Thane police in February 2019. On February 5, cops arrested a trio for stealing 21 bikes from near Thane railway station and Kalwa using duplicate keys. On February 7, Thane cops busted a gang of nine who stole four wheelers.