A man found to be moving suspiciously in Dadar in the early hours of Tuesday morning was found to possess three ATM cards registered to different people. Moreover, the police was surprised to see that one of the cards was in the name of Sachin Tendulkar.
According to the Bhoiwada police, the accused was seen at the Hindmata Junction at around 3.30 am on Tuesday, moving from one ATM centre to another. Two police constables who were patrolling the area at the time noticed the accused’s behaviour.
When the man was taken into custody and questioned, his failure to provide a satisfactory reply raised the police’s suspicion. He was taken to the police station and frisked, after which the police found three ATM cards, a driving licence and `8,640 in cash. What caught the police’s attention was that one of the cards, ostensibly issued by a private bank, was in the name of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Further, the driving licence was also found to be forged.
“The man was identified as Sohaib Doodhwala (29), a Mahim resident. While being questioned, he confessed to have stuck his photograph on his friend’s driving licence. However, he did not speak about the cards or the money found in his possession,” said an officer with the Bhoiwada police.
Doodhwala was placed under arrest for cheating and forgery and the police is now verifying whether the cards found in his possession are operational or dummies.
“Till proven otherwise, the cards will be treated as genuine, and the case will be investigated as one of forgery. We cannot ignore the fact that Doodhwala was exiting an ATM centre with three cards, which were not in his name and money on his person. Further inquiries are on,” said Shashikant Bhat, police sub-inspector, Bhoiwada police station.
The police is now looking into Doodhwala’s antecedents to check whether he has any previous cases against him. “Doodhwala’s family has claimed that he is a drug addict and does not tell them much about where he goes all day. He seemed to be under the influence of some drug when he was arrested and was mostly asleep while in police custody till late on Tuesday. He has been remanded to police
custody till Friday,” said an officer.