Auto driver arrested for series of manhole lid thefts in Mumbai | Mumbai News

Mumbai: Police have arrested Narayan Ghayal (35) from Dahisar involved in seven cases of stealing 17 manhole lids and two safety nets since June. The arrest was facilitated by Google timeline data and the vehicle number 77 of an auto rickshaw captured by a single CCTV camera in Dahisar.The MHB Colony police recovered all the stolen lids, which Ghayal had sold for Rs 1000 to Rs 1200 each, although they originally cost Rs 6000 apiece.Authorities are searching for Ghayal’s aide who assisted him in stealing manhole lids from localities without CCTV coverage. “Ghayal use to work during the daytime running the rickshaw while he used to steal the manhole lid early morining. He did it to party with his friend. The theft was taken seriously after we received seven complaints from the BMC and fearing the theft could have endanger the lives of people who could have fallen in the open manhole,” said a police officer of the MHB Colony police station.The latest manhole theft case was registered on Aug 13 following a complaint from Devendra Vaidya (52), who noticed a missing manhole lid on Veer Hanuman Nagar Road in Dahisar’s Kandarpada locality.Based on the seven complaints, DCP Sandeep Jadhav supervised the team—Senior Inspector Harish Gawli, Inspector Atul Avhad, Sub-Inspector Sandeep Gorade and staff—who first managed to obtain the CCTV footage. “The accused use to target the locality where there is no CCTV. However, he got caught in one camera on the stretch. But the footage was grainy and only we managed to retrieve ’77’ of the first two-digit of the rickshaw,” said a police officer.The team then intensified patrolling between 4.30 am and 6 am and identified all the rickshaws that ply during this time. “Finally, we tracked Ghayal after we found out his role when he checked the Google realtime location tracking. Ghayal location was found at all the 17 places from where he stole the manhole lids since June,” said Sub-Inspector Gorade.Ghayal is in judicial custody.