Thane: Two teenagers arrested for bike theft also ran over 70-year-old woman

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Thane Crime Branch's unit III recently arrested two minors for stealing bikes, and realised they had stumbled upon the accused in a December 2017 hit-and-run case in Dombivli. The two 17-year-olds, who were arrested on Saturday for stealing six bikes in Navi Mumbai, told the police during interrogation that they had accidentally hit an elderly woman on December 22, who had died en route to hospital.

Double trouble
Over the past few months, the Thane police, noticing a drastic rise in the number of bike thefts in Thane, Ambernath and Dombivli, had sought assistance from the crime branch for the investigations.

During the probe of one such case, officers of unit III received a tip-off about a 17-year-old FYBA student, who was involved in vehicle lifting. On his arrest, he spilled the beans on his associate, a student from the same college, who was then arrested. They told the cops that while they were fleeing with a Royal Enfield from Rabale, they accidentally rammed into an old woman on Kopar Road. Officers verified this and found that the duo had run over 72-year-old Mohini Meghani, who had been returning home after visiting a temple nearby.

The Vishnu Nagar police in Dombivli had recovered the Bullet from the spot and registered a case under sections 304 (A) (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), and 338 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. "The accused were not aware that the victim had died in the accident. They found out only after their arrest, when we told them," said unit III inspector Sanju John.

Just for joyrides
According to the police, the accused are from well-to-do families - father of one of them is a naval officer, while the other's family has a business. An officer said, "The accused used to steal the bikes for joyrides, only to impress girls. After roaming around with the girls, they would park the vehicles at a friend's place." Investigators have recovered five out of the six motorcycles stolen by the two, who have been handed over to the Ambernath police for further investigation.

6
Number of bikes the accused stole