By Nityanjali Bulsu
Two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, were detained by the Bund Garden police for snatching a Rs 1.2 lakh gold chain from a woman in July and stealing a scooter near the Pune railway station on November 22. They were detained in Karad.
The police have stated that the crimes could have gone undetected, but a little while before the scooter theft of November 22, they called their friend in Karad to ask for money for an auto rickshaw. Post that they left the city.
Senior Inspector Santosh Pandhare of Bund Garden police said that they checked the CCTV footage of November 22 regarding the scooter theft and that the footage showed two minors coming in an auto rickshaw. The boys were caught on a CCTV camera as they called someone before paying the auto-rickshaw fare. They later tracked the auto rickshaw and checked his online phone payment transactions for that day and time, thereby finding the suspect’s friend.
The police officer further stated that the money was transferred to the auto rickshaw driver through a mobile number in Karad, which is how they tracked him. Upon interrogation, they found that the person had simply helped his friends pay for the auto fare when asked for monetary assistance.
The duo confessed to their involvement in the crimes and told the police about the sale of the scooter for Rs 20,000, the money from which was used for their personal enjoyment. The police, furthermore, managed to recover the stolen scooter. However, they have not yet found the gold chain.
“The boys regularly visit Pune railway station after boarding a train from Karad to commit trivial thefts. “The two boys come from a poor family background and their parents are casual workers,” Sub Inspector Dhiraj Gupta said.