Mumbai Crime: Chain-snatching cab driver arrested from Naigaon

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A 32-year-old private cab driver from Naigaon was arrested on Friday after he allegedly snatched gold ornaments from women he was ferrying in his car, and from women who he stopped to ask for directions to a fictitious address. The Charkop police said the accused is a professional thief.

One such attack in the Charkop area last week was captured by a CCTV camera and the police traced the car number and caught the accused from Naigaon on Friday. They recovered the stolen ornaments from the cab. According to police sources, the accused has been identified as Sunil Sakpal.

Last week, Sakpal had snatched the gold chain of a 35-year-old woman while she was returning from the temple with her sister. Sakpal called out to them, asking them if they knew the directions to an address. As they came closer, he snatched the woman's chain and fled in his cab.

The woman approached the Charkop police and registered a complaint. The police started the investigation and sought CCTV footage from the areas he snatched chains at. "We checked CCTV footage between Charkop and Dahisar Check Naka and traced the cab to Naigaon from where we arrested him. During enquiry, we found that the accused used to drive a cab for a well-known travel company but on someone else's ID card. We then found out that this is common among drivers. This is an extremely dangerous trend," said a police officer.

Sakpal has a previous criminal record of robbery at Santacruz police station. Police suspect there could be more cases in the northern region of the city. "We have recovered the stolen ornaments from the accused and also seized the car," said the officer.

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