Trombay police have arrested two men who are allegedly involved in stealing medicines from local delivery salesmen across the city.
According to the police, the modus operandi of the primary accused, identified as Sultan Israel Shaikh, is to steal medicines from delivery men and sell them to illegal suppliers, churning money to buy drugs for personal consumption.
Shaikh, a resident of Agripada, is a history sheeter and a fugitive, with almost 21 criminal case records at various police stations in the Mumbai jurisdiction for similar crimes, including theft, house breaking, criminal intimidation, etc.
"He was on the run when we got a tip-off about his location. What he usually does is hire people who will help him with the stealing. Every time, different individuals are selected by him. "In this case, Shaikh had two people who ganged up together," said a police officer at Trombay police.
Trombay police received a complaint from Abdul Sayyed, a 70-year-old salesman from the Mankhurd area who lost his supplies. "Sayed had kept his supplies in his vehicles and went to finish his business. He returned immediately, but the supplies were missing by then, after which he approached us, "said the officer. The supplies included a large number of cigarette boxes, worth Rs. 78,516.
Even though he changed his MO in this case, from medinines to cigarettes, during the investigation it was confirmed that this was Shaikh's doing. "We started by tracing him through Shaikh's brother, who eventually gave us the tip-off about his location," said the officer. Shaikh was arrested by the police on Sunday.
The second accused in the case is identified as Roshan Chauhan, 19. Chauhan was the one who the police managed to arrest after tracing closed-circuit television (CCTV) at the crime spot. He was arrested on August 26, and during the investigation he confessed the name and identity of his gang members.
When both Shaikh and Chauhan were arrested, they were found intoxicated. The police found out that they did all these things to make easy cash for buying drugs, including mephedrone, marijuana, etc.
The police have also found certain details about the frequent suppliers who were engaged with Shaikh. "We have one lead to a vendor who brought the medicine from the accused, who is based out of Byculla. We are investigating further to uncover other suppliers and accused who were involved with Shaikh all this while, "the officer concluded.
Shaikh is currently in police custody. The third accused in the case is still missing, for which the investigation is underway, confirmed the police.
The police have registered a case of theft against the three under the Indian Penal Code.
.jpeg)
