Burglar caught after heated car chase in Wadala

Mumbai: A former village head (gram pradhan) from Uttar Pradesh (UP) was arrested in a November 22 house-breaking case on Monday. The Mira Road police nabbed Aslam Israel Shaikh (40) after intercepting him in a car chase at Wadala. Shaikh is the former gram pradhan of Rampur Rajwadi (Dev-Mau) village, Pratapgadh district, UP.  

The police was investigating a house-breaking case reported from a flat in Sheetal Nagar, Mira Road, on November 22. Unidentified thieves had broken into a locked apartment and decamped with booty worth more than Rs 2.30 lakh, including cash and gold ornaments, apart from documents such as an ATM card. A breakthrough came when the miscreants withdrew Rs 50,000 in cash from an ATM in Dahisar.

A police team led by API Prakash Pawar and PSI Bharat Sonawane, under the instructions of Thane (rural) SP Dr. Mahesh Patil and senior police inspector Shrikant Padule, swung into action. On the basis of CCTV footage procured from the vicinity of the ATM booth, the team hit upon the fact that a duo had arrived in a Santro car to withdraw the money. Since the CCTV images were hazy, the police checked the CCTV footage at Dahisar toll plaza and managed to obtain the registration number of the car. This led them to a person identified as Asif, a resident of Wadala. During questioning, Asif revealed that Shaikh had funded his buying the second-hand car which he would use to commit thefts in and around the city. Before the day could end, he would catch a flight back.

After playing hide-and-seek with the police for over a fortnight, Shaikh was finally nabbed.