Mumbai police has nailed a gang of eight including a minor which used to travel every day from Surat, Gujarat, to pick pockets of people in Mangaldas, Bhuleshwar, Crawford and Manish markets in south Mumbai. Nearly Rs 52,000 have been recovered from the gang involved in eight to ten such cases.
A senior officer from Pydhonie police station said, “One of them would trace the target, another would follow the target to check his/her status and what kind of shopping he/she did. Later, seeing a crowded place, one of them would hit or just touch the target to start a fight. Two other gang members would join in and one of them, taking advantage of the melee, would pick the target’s purse/bag and flee the spot.”
The incident came to light when a Chembur shopkeeper Aashish Rajkumar Gupta, after receiving Rs 66,000 from Pydhonie, was crossing Nagdevi street when someone pushed him leading to a fight. After a few minutes when Mr Gupta checked, he found his purse missing. Acting on a tip-off about a suspicious looking person on Nagdevi street, the police nabbed the person. During interrogation, he said his accomplices might be at Haji Ali Dargah from where cops finally arrested the remaining gang members.
The accused have been identified as Asif Usman Sheikh (42), Ashraf Mohammd Momin (29), Saddam Latif Sheikh (20), Aslam Nisar Sheikh (22), Azim Karim Sheikh (19), Jalil Samat Sheikh (19), Saiful Lukman Sheikh (22) and a 15-year-old. They have been booked under Sections 379 (Punishment for theft) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
