The Dharavi police has arrested three boys, who are minors, for allegedly stealing bikes from the area. The boys used to go on joyrides and then abandon the vehicles after they ran out of petrol. Seven such abandoned bikes have been recovered from Dharavi, Shahu Nagar and Antop Hill. The police has also found what they suspect to be a “master key”, used for stealing these bikes.
According to PSI Bharat Ghone, the boys were found by patrolling officers while they were riding “triple-seat” on Tuesday morning. “All three were riding on the same bike around 11.30 am and were spotted by some of our men in the area. When we stopped and questioned them, they began giving evasive and contradictory answers about the motorcycle. They gave unsatisfactory replies upon being asked about the bike’s owner and where they were headed. We then brought them to the police station and grilled them for a few minutes after which they confessed to having stolen the bike,” said Mr Dhone.
There onwards, the minors began spilling the beans on how they had been stealing bikes to go on joyrides for the past one year. “They intended to only ride around and have fun on the motorcycles. After the bike ran out of petrol, they dumped them to hunt for their next target. We then began questioning them where they abandoned the vehicles and took them with to these spots. Three bikes each from Shahu Nagar and Dharavi and one bike from Antop Hill have been recovered. A “master key”, which we believe might have been used to steal the bikes, has been recovered from the storage area of one of the motorcycles,” added Mr Dhone.
The boys were formally placed under arrest and were later sent to the Dongri remand home. The trio resides in the Dharavi slums, near the police station and two of them are school dropouts while one of them studies in Class 8.