Sheikh and Baloch, along with their accomplices, used to steal copper from the remote areas in Palghar and Thane districts and sell it in an open market
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Two members of a gang were arrested by the Mumbai Police in a Rs 1.81 crore copper theft case that was registered in the neighbouring Palghar district, an official said on Tuesday. The accused duo are identified as Wasim Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Sheikh (39) and Mohsin Ashraf Baloch (31), both residents of Nallasopara in Palghar district.
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The duo were arrested by the property cell of the Crime Branch, said Dilip Sawant, DCP (Detection). Sheikh was wanted in a vehicle theft case in which his two aides were already arrested, he said. Police had seized nine vehicles from the accused persons which were used to commit robbery and dacoity on the highway in Thane and Palghar districts, he said.
Sheikh, who hails from Pratapgadh in Uttar Pradesh, is the kingpin of the gang involved in the theft of vehicles in the northern state, the DCP said. He was wanted in at least 13 such cases in Mumbai. Sheikh and Baloch were operating a gang that was involved in stealing copper owned by Copper India Ltd., after
it was loaded on container trailers in Taloja unit in Navi Mumbai for transporting it to Rajasthan and Gujarat, the official said.
Sheikh and Baloch, along with their accomplices, used to steal copper from the remote areas in Palghar and Thane districts and sell it in an open market, he said. The crime branch officials recovered copper worth Rs 1.81 crore in two cases registered at Valiv and Virar police stations in Palghar, he said. Further investigation is underway.
In another incident, an 11-year-old girl, Std V student was allegedly raped by a robber who barged into her house in Bandra (East) on Monday when her father was at work and her mother was out shopping. The accused was in his late 20s, said a source. When the girl's mother returned home, she found the girl lying on the floor with her hands and legs tied. After she untied her daughter, she found out about what had happened. The girl and her mother then registered a complaint with Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police station. A case under stringent sections of the POCSO Act and the Indian Penal Code has been registered against an unknown person. Read more
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