Drunk, armed youth sets truck on fire

A 23-year-old youth from Thane in an inebriated state first roamed around with a sword in hand, searching for those who handed him over to the police for speaking to a girl and later, when he did not find anyone, set a truck on fire. Wagale Estate police arrested the accused Umar Makbul Ahmad Shaikh, and produced him in court on Tuesday.

Police officials said that Shaikh was chatting with his girlfriend near Makhmali Lake in Thane when a few locals caught him for making obscene gestures while with the girl. The residents took Shaikh and his girlfriend to Wagale Estate police station at around 9.30pm. Senior police inspector A. Kshirsagar said, “We detained the couple and after an hour, left the girl with her parents. At around 12.30 am, we released Shaikh as well.”

Police said that according to CCTV footage, Shaikh returned to Makhmali Talav in an inebriated state, sword in hand, looking for the residents who took him to the cops. When he could not find anybody, he removed petrol from a nearby car and set a truck containing coconuts afire.

Truck owner, Rajeshkumar Jaiswal, reached the spot around 2 pm after a few people informed him about his truck having been set on fire. “I was shocked when one of my employees called me and informed me that our truck was burning. I immediately reached the spot. We tried to stop the fire by throwing water. We had coconuts worth '2 lakh in that truck. I called police and they arrested Shaikh.”

SPI Kshirsagar said, “Shaikh is a resident of Indira Nagar in Wagale Estate. After we got a call from local residents informing about the situation, we immediately informed fire brigade officials who brought the fire under control within a few minutes. We arrested the accused under section 435 and produced him in court on Tuesday. He has been remanded to four days’ custody.”