3 college students, mechanic held for stealing cars in Mumbai

Sandesh Baramati, Jayesh Waykar and Sujay Gadade along with mechachic Pankaj Kate

The Kalachowkie police has arrested a mechanic and the three college students he had lured into stealing vehicles and vehicle parts. The police have recovered two vehicles and parts of two other vehicles from them.

Kept a watch
The Kalachowkie police had received several complaints of vehicle thefts in the past few days and were keeping a close watch on the area. Last week, from when sub-inspector Samadhan Deshmane was on patrolling duty, he found four people loading spare parts into a tempo at Barrister Nath Pai Road. When he inquired what they were doing, the four became evasive.

Deshmane and the other cops finally took the four to the police station and grilled them. The accused have been identified as Sujay Gadhade (22), Sandesh Veeramani (22), Jayesh Waykar (19) and Pankaj Kate (21). Sujay and Sandesh live in Mazgaon, while Jayesh and Pankaj live in Byculla.

How it happened
"During questioning, we found out that Sujay, Sandesh and Jayesh are students. Sujay studies in TYBA; Sandesh is pursuing a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering; while Jayesh is in the first year. Pankaj owns a garage at Fer Bunder, Sewri," said Dilip Ugle, Senior Inspector of Kalachowkie Police Station. "Pankaj, a mechanic, used to steal parts required to repair vehicles that came to his garage. He used to do this himself until he befriended Sujay, Sandesh and Jayesh and lured them with the idea of easy money," Ugle said.

Pankaj used to conduct a recce during the day and spot vehicles that had not been moved for a few days. Pankaj would then contact the students who used to leave their homes after midnight. "These boys used to tell their parents they were going to a friend's house to study. None of their family members knew where they were going once they left home," an officer from
Kalachowkie said. The four have been arrested under various sections of the IPC.