Auto driver's background check reveals kidnapping attempt in 2016

Mohmmad Rashid alias Shaikh

Traffic rules are not the only law broken by some of Mumbai's crooked autorickshaw drivers. The authorities, while conducting background checks on the city's auto and taxi drivers, found one who has been wanted for three years for attempting to kidnap a Japanese tourist.

The background checks started after mid-day published a series of reports on how auto and taxi drivers harass commuters. The Mumbai crime branch arrested Mohmmad Rashid alias Papad Farooq Mujawar alias Shaikh, a 29-year-old auto driver from Ghatkopar, for allegedly attempting to abduct a Japanese national in 2016.

The incident
A crime branch officer said, "In 2016, a Japanese national was plying in the accused's auto. Shaikh snatched the victim's mobile phone and dollars, and when the Japanese retaliated, he throttled his auto to full speed. The victim jumped off the running auto and approached the Vikhroli Park Site police station."

The police had then registered an FIR under Sections 364A (Kidnapping for ransom) and 384 (extortion) of the IPC. Since then, he had been on the lam. On February 28, an informer tipped off the crime branch's Unit 7 about Shaikh, after which a trap was laid in Ghatkopar under the leadership of PI Satish Tavare.

The cops also found that just two days ago, Shaikh allegedly stole two mobile phones from a shop in Kanjurmarg. There are two more cases against him in Powai and Ghatkopar. "We have handed over the accused to the Kanjurmarg police for further investigation. We are also checking if he was involved in other major crimes," said a cop.

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