Navi Mumbai: Two men were arrested for stealing aluminium alloy ingots by boarding a moving goods truck on the Mumbai–Pune Express Highway, using a car to tail the vehicle and collect the stolen material thrown onto the road. The theft occurred on December 9 near the Madap Tunnel stretch between Madap Tunnel and Kumbhivali Bridge, police said.
According to police, the complainant was transporting aluminium alloy ingots in a truck when an unknown thief climbed onto the moving vehicle and threw 45 ingots, worth Rs 32,400, onto the highway. CCTV footage later revealed the modus operandi: a black-and-yellow Eco car followed the truck, one accused climbed onto the truck and tossed the ingots onto the road, while an accomplice in the car picked them up and loaded them into the vehicle.
Based on CCTV analysis and technical inputs, police identified the car as an Eco bearing registration number MH-01-AT-2440. Acting on a tip-off, PSI Jagtap and the Crime Detection Team traced the suspects to the Wadibunder–Dongri area of Mumbai and apprehended Arjun Shankar Kale (32) and Sohail Rahim Khan (40) at Char Nal Chowk, Dongri, on December 11, along with the vehicle used in the crime.
“The accused used a moving-vehicle theft technique, wherein one person risked climbing onto the truck while another followed closely in a car to collect the stolen material. CCTV footage played a crucial role in cracking the case,” a police officer involved in the investigation said.
During interrogation, the accused confessed and named two accomplices—Santosh Ratan Kale and an associate known as Ummi—both residents of Wadibunder, who allegedly assisted in the theft. Though the accused initially gave evasive replies about the disposal of the stolen goods, police later recovered the aluminium ingots from a scrap dealer in Mazgaon during custody and seized the Eco car used in the crime.
Police said the accused also confessed to committing a similar offence registered at Khalapur Police Station under Section 305(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The total value of seized property, including the car, is ₹3.32 lakh. The two accused are in police custody till December 16, while search operations are underway to nab the remaining accomplices.
Police have appealed to motorists, particularly drivers of trucks, tempos and trailers, to stop only at designated points on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway and to immediately dial 112 if suspicious persons are noticed along the highway.
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