Mumbai: The Yellow Gate police bu-sted a racket of motorbike thieves and recovered 29 stolen two-wheelers worth Rs 7 lakh from them. The vehicles were kept at various locations in Navi Mumbai like Kharghar, Belapur from where the two-wheelers were recovered. One of the accused was apprehended after he turned up at the spot days after the incident.

The police began the investigation after a parked bike belonging to a fish trader went missing from Ferry Wharf. The police began investigation and found credible leads from the CCTV camera footage and tracked down one of the accused persons.

“Footage at six different locations was checked, bu-t the face of the accused c-aptured in the CCTV camera was not very clear. Th-e lead was the black and yellow cap the accused w-as seen wearing,” said Su-rekha Kapile, senior ins-pector of Yellow Gate police station.

The police then laid a tr-ap at the spot where the accused, later identified as Mehraj Shaikh (19), tur-ned up wearing the same cap. The officials nabbed him and upon verification and questioning, he revea-led that the bike was sto-len with help of his acco-mplice. The other accused, Mushtaq Mansuri alias Salman (19), was apprehended from Belapur.

Their interrogation revealed that they had been committing two-wheeler thefts since 2016 in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. They revealed of having stolen at least 29 two-wheelers and kept them at places in Vashi, Belapur and Kharghar, officials said. The police later found that Shaikh has other half a dozen cases registered against him.

The duo has been booked in a fresh case of theft as per the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and they have been remanded in police custody.