22 September,2016 08:36 AM IST | | Santosh Wagh and Mohar Basu
As a Bollywood stuntman, Shamsher Khan has performed many heroic acts for top actors. In real life, however, he turned out to be more a villain after he stole a luxury car belonging to wife of a politician
Stuntman Shamsher Mehboob Khan drives off in the stolen Audi. A few hours later, he starts driving towards Navi Mumbai to deliver the car to a dealer. Illustration/Uday Mohite
As a stuntman in Bollywood, Shamsher Khan (30) has performed many heroic acts for top actors. In real life, however, he turned out to be more a villain after he stole a luxury car belonging to the wife of a politician. Thankfully, he was arrested just four hours after he tried to pull off this real-life stunt.
Kurla police get a tip-off and set up a nakabandi at Kapadia Nagar to catch Khan. They know he might attempt a stunt to break free, so they fortify the check-post
In Bollywood, Shamsher Mehboob Khan has worked with famous actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. He has also worked extensively with director Rohit Shetty, in his films as well as on a popular stunt-based reality show that was hosted by him.
As soon as he arrives there, the cops ask Khan to step out of the vehicle. He tells them that the car belongs to his father, but they take him to the police station
For the heist, however, Khan was working with two crooks - Abhay Patil (42), a car dealer from Navi Mumbai, and Vijay Verma (35), a domestic servant working in a VIP residential building near the traffic police headquarters in Worli. The building, named Vain Ganga, is home to several politicians and business tycoons. The stolen car - an Audi A8 (2016), worth Rs 98 lakh - belonged to one of these residents, Abha Bafna, the wife of a politician and businessman. When Bafna came to know about the theft, she immediately registered a complaint with the Worli police station.
Once they are at the police station, Khan spills the beans. He also names his accomplices and all three accused are arrested
The plot
According to the police, Khan was given the job of stealing the car from the parking lot of the building and was supposed to get Rs 2 lakh for this. He was told to take the car keys from Verma. "It is still not clear how Verma got access to the car keys, since he is not employed with Bafna. That is part of the investigations," said an officer from Worli police, who are investigating the case.
Abhay Patil, a car dealer in Navi Mumbai, was arrested soon after the stuntman
Around 1 am on Tuesday night, Khan arrived at the building and sped off in the stolen car. Everything was going according to script, and a few hours later Khan was on his way to Navi Mumbai to hand over the car to his accomplice, Patil.
Twist in the tale
Before the Worli police could even get into action, somehow the Kurla police received a tip-off about the theft. Assistant Police Inspector (API) Shivaji Bade was on night duty at Kurla police station and received information that Khan was on his way to Navi Mumbai to deliver the Audi to Patil. API Bade and his staff quickly imposed a nakabandi at Kapadia Nagar in Kurla at around 5 am, from where Khan was scheduled to pass.
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Prepared for stunts
The cops knew that Khan was a stuntman and anticipated that he might attempt to escape by running them over or with some other trick, so they fortified the nakabandi.
But there was no daredevilry on display that morning. As soon as he arrived, the cops stopped him at the nakabandi and asked him to get out of the car. When they asked him about the car, he told them that it belonged to his father.
"Knowing that he is a stuntman and could risk the lives of the staffers at the nakabandi, we politely asked him to step out of the car. We pushed him into the police jeep and once he was at the police station, he confessed to stealing the vehicle from Worli," said a cop. During the interrogation, Khan also revealed the names of his accomplices, and both of them were arrested as well. All three accused are now in custody at Worli police station, since that is where the case was registered.
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"The Kurla police nabbed two of the accused, and handed them over to the Worli police, who arrested the third person. Further investigation is on," said Additional Police commissioner (Central Region), RD Shinde.
