Dad-son car thief duo, who hid stolen vehicles in hospitals, held

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: The crime branch of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police arrested a man and his son — who are part of a larger gang of car thieves comprising the man’s three other sons — on Saturday.

The members of the gang have about 50 cases registered against them in different parts of the state. The arrested men have been identified as Shaikh Dawood (58) and his youngest son, 19-year-old Arbaz. They have confessed to stealing at least nine cars from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar alone in the recent past. They committed the thefts along with their two relatives and an accomplice from Punjab.

Crime branch sub-inspector Pravin Wagh, who played a crucial role in the detection of this case, said while tailing the accused, the cops found out that after each theft, the thieves kept the stolen vehicles in hospital parking lots. “They just pretended to be the relatives of some patient, and parked the stolen cars on the hospital premises. After waiting for two-three days, they used to take the cars to far off places — either in south India or north India — and dispose of them,” said Wagh.

The accused men, with the help of their accomplice from Punjab, are known to use sophisticated devices to disable the security alarms of the expensive SUVs and luxury cars. After disabling the alarm, the men usually manage to steal vehicles within four-five minutes. The accused have a record of stealing cars from almost all of the major cities in Maharashtra.

The police detected 14 fresh car theft cases, including nine in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar alone.

The police said despite the accused being caught on several CCTV cameras, it was difficult to catch them because they rarely stepped out of their hiding places.

Crime branch inspector Sandeep Gurme said, “Our teams had been tailing the accused for the past couple of months. On more than one occasion, they managed to give us the slip. The last car stolen by them cost more than Rs 20 lakh. It was stolen from the limits of the Pundaliknagar police station on December 9, 2023.”

The officer said the probe has revealed that the accused, with their entire family, frequently shifted to different cities. They rented out bungalows in upscale colonies and used them as their hideout.

MIDC Waluj’s senior inspector Avinash Aghav said that a couple of years ago, these accused had rented a bungalow in the Satara area of the city and lived there for close to a year, before the Jalgaon police managed to find a clue and nab them.

Dawood's remaining three sons and the accomplice from Punjab have gone underground.