Airoli man does a 007 to get back stolen car

The Q Branch provides James Bond unique vehicles to fight his enemies. On several occasions, they save the master spy from the murderous attempts on his life.

Such are the gizmos fitted in them that the marvelous character lives for another day to say, ‘My name is Bond, James Bond’.  

But that is fiction — happens only in those movies. Nope, Airoli resident PN Pandey would beg to differ. For, his car talks to him. And how? 

Life was good for a bunch of car thieves till they landed their hands on Pandey’s brand new Mahindra Bolero. At 3.56am on November 11, Pandey received an SMS: “Your vehicle alert-emergency-need help-Micro VBB.”

He ran to the window and saw that his vehicle was missing. “I saw that our gate was open and the guard fast asleep; and my new car was gone,” recollected Pandey.

He rushed downstairs calling his friend for help. But then he realised that there was more he could do. He used the same SMS service to make sure that the thieves could not go too far.

All he had to do was SMS E-Off to an allotted number and the engine of the car would stop. Not even the original keys could ignite it unless he SMSd E-On from his number.  

“Having lost a car once, I took the dealer’s suggestion to install Micro Technology’s Micro Vehicle Black Box security system which would equip my car with sensors which not just helped me in stopping my car but also in finding out its location,” said Pandey.  

The thieves, in the meantime, had reached Kurla. But to their dismay, the car stopped all of a sudden.  

Pandey knew that his car was stalled but had forgotten that another SMS reading ‘find’ could have given him details of its location.

He spent the entire night on a two-wheeler searching for the car. Finally, he went to Rabale police station to seek help.

However, next morning, he found out from the Micro Technology office that his solution was just an SMS away.

Pandey finally saw his car parked outside the Al-Barkat School near Kurla station. “I stood at a distance and called my colleagues to keep a watch as well. However, when we saw no signs of anyone trying to approach the car, I thanked god and went near it,” said Pandey.

“Technology and police both had done enough to find my beloved car.” 

Pandey then drove back home feeling relieved. He could easily have muttered,  ‘My name’s Pandey, PN Pandey’. Or, did he?