Pune: He sold his hotel in Ahmedabad and came to Pune to marry his girlfriend... but his girlfriend eloped with an autorickshaw driver... upset over this, he decided to take revenge... by stealing mobile phones of all autorickshaw drivers... Emboldened after a few successful attempts, the man continued with his revenge, until police managed to nab him recently.
Investigations revealed that the man has stolen more than 70 such mobile handsets so far. The suspect has been identified as Bhurabhai alias Asif Arif Sheikh, a resident of Kondhwa.
Police Inspector Chandrakant Bhosale from Cantonment police station said, "Asif was emboldened over the fact that no one could trace him after stealing mobiles of the automobiles. So far, he has stolen mobile phones of more than 70 auto rickshaw drivers in the city. Asif was produced in the court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till August 27. So far 12 mobiles have been seized from him."
MODUS OPERANDI
Asif used to travel by auto rickshaw in Katraj, Kondhwa and Camp areas. When the autorickshaw stopped at a crowded place, he would ask the auto driver for his handset to make a call to his friend. He used to cite reasons for his own mobile being non-functional due to some technical error. Then he would walk away from the rickshaw, pretending to talk on the phone and flee from the spot.
According to police, Asif is originally from Ahmedabad. His family was opposed to him marrying the girl. So he sold his own restaurant in Ahmedabad and came to Pune in June last year to marry his girlfriend. He was planning to start a new business and life in Pune after marriage. Within two days of his arrival in Pune, his girlfriend stole money and belongings from Asif and fled to Gujarat.
In search of her. Asif reached Gujarat. After arriving there, he learned that she had married an autorickshaw driver. He was shocked and returned to Pune immediately. He started working with one of his relatives living in the Kondhwa area. Asif was furious over this incident and had developed hatred towards autorickshaw drivers. So he started stealing their mobile phones to teach all auto drivers a lesson.