24 July,2018 08:13 PM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
Aasim cuts his birthday cake at the Byculla police station
Thanks to a bunch of bike thieves, a Mazgaon resident ended up giving his friend a truly memorable birthday - inside a police station. Prior to the party, cops nabbed one thief, and while it was on, they arrested two others, recovering two bikes in the process as well.
This interesting night began unfolding on July 21, when Rahim Virani had planned to surprise his childhood friend Aasim Kondkar for his birthday, which was on July 22. Rahim said, "Soon after I left for Navi Mumbai from Mazgaon, I got a call from a relative saying that my Pulsar 180 bike was missing from the spot where I park it every day. By the time we returned, Arbaaz Sayyed, my relative, had already detained one thief [identified as Siddharth Sapkal, 19] with the help of cops."
Party with the cops
Following this, Rahim, Karim Virani, Vinod Jain and Aasim reached the police station with Arbaaz. "While cops were taking down the FIR, they asked me where I was going this late with friends. I told them we'd planned a surprise birthday party for Aasim," Rahim added. Soon after, sub inspectors Swapnil Patil and Pramod Shinde asked the other officers to arrange for a cake.
Karim said, "When we were done with all the procedures around 1 am, cops brought the cake in the station. We were all surprised; cops told us they wouldn't let thieves ruin our party mood, and cut the cake with us. That was something unique."
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Birthday boy Aasim struggled to find words to describe the feeling, "My friends were planning on celebrating my birthday in a unique way, but the cops made it unique indeed. Now, they've become my friends too."
While the party was on, another team was looking for the other bike thief, who was waiting near the Eastern Freeway for his friends. Cops waited for a little longer and saw a cab stop near him, from which one person emerged, whom the man shooed away. Another officer said, "By the time we reached spot, we succeeded in nabbing two men - identified as Shahid Hasan Raza Khan, 24, and Shamim Abdul Rahim Khan, 20 - and recovered a stolen bike."
Token of affection
"Our officer succeeded in nabbing three bike thieves and recover two bikes within 12 hours. Moreover, they celebrated the complainant's friend's birthday too. It was a small token of affection from us," said Dinesh Kadam, senior police inspector, of Byculla Police station.
All the arrested accused have been remanded police custody till July 24. "Till now we havent come across any bike theft cases against them, we suspect it was their maiden attempt," said another officer.
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