Mumbai: A Tata Nexon ZX+ electric vehicle, reported stolen from a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) parking lot in Sewri, was successfully recovered by the Kalachowki Police from a charging point in Mulund. The incident occurred in the early hours of June 3, and a case has been registered against two unidentified suspects.
According to the FIR, the complainant, Smita Retharekar, 50, a resident of Abhyudaya Nagar in Kalachowki, had purchased the Tata Nexon EV in 2022 and regularly rented it out through the vehicle rental platform Zoomcar. Due to unavailability of space in the Lodha Parking facility, she had been parking the vehicle at a BMC-designated parking zone on Zakaria Bunder Road, Sewri, since May 7.
On the night of June 2, her son, Om, parked the vehicle at the BMC parking lot at around 9 p.m. Due to double parking, he handed over the car key to the on-duty security guard but clearly instructed that the key or vehicle must not be handed to anyone without their explicit permission.
At 5 a.m. on June 3, Om received a notification on his mobile indicating suspicious activity related to the car. Upon checking the vehicle’s GPS tracker, he noticed its location had shifted to Mankhurd. He immediately informed his mother.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that a person named Mohammad Adnan Shaikh had booked the car through Zoomcar from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., but later cancelled the booking. Meanwhile, the parking security guard had attempted to call Smita 23 times during the night, but she did not notice the calls as her phone was on silent mode.
When Smita contacted the security guard, he informed her that two unidentified individuals had taken the car. Sequrity gaurd allowed them after presenting valid identification, including Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and photographs.
Realising the car had been stolen, Smita lodged a formal complaint at the Kalachowki Police Station, stating that her Tata Nexon ZX+ electric vehicle, valued at approximately Rs 18 lakh, had been stolen. Acting on the complaint, the police tracked the vehicle to a charging station in Mulund and promptly took it into custody.
The Kalachowki Police are continuing their investigation to identify and apprehend the suspects involved in the theft.
