In a major breakthrough, the RAK Marg Police have arrested Junaid Yusuf Sheikh, alias Bambya, a 35-year-old man accused of being a serial car thief involved in over 70 cases across Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat.
The arrest followed a complaint by a Byculla resident, who reported that his car had been stolen near a local garden. After registering a case under Section 303 (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), police launched a detailed investigation.
Police scanned footage from over 150 CCTV cameras across several localities, including Wadala, Sewri, Kalachowki, and Mazgaon, before locating and arresting the accused on Linking Road in Santacruz.
Upon arrest, police recovered three stolen mobile phones from his possession, one of which was linked to a mobile snatching case in Pimpri Chinchwad. The stolen car was also traced and recovered.
A background check revealed Sheikh had a staggering 70+ criminal cases across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, and even cities in Gujarat such as Ahmedabad, Surat, and Valsad. His modus operandi involved using advanced tools to break into locked vehicles and later selling them on the black market.
The operation was led by the RAK Marg Police’s detection team under ACP Yeshwant Gaikwad and Senior Inspector Sanjeev Talegaonkar. Further investigations are ongoing to uncover additional victims and his potential connections to larger theft rings.
