Mumbai police found two men deliberately hitting motorists and robbing them on the Eastern Express Highway near Vikroli. The police had to rely on the footage captured by a camera mounted on a mechanical power sweeper (road cleaning vehicle) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Police said that such incidents have been increasing and the lack of lighting on the highway made it difficult for investigators to identify the suspects. However, the camera mounted on the sweeper helped the police identify the suspects and eventually arrested the two in Thane.
According to the police, the two suspects attacked a motorcyclist named Swapnil Laxman Bhabude. Swapnil was returning to his home in Mulund when the two suspects deliberately overtook him and caused the accident.
“The two suspects then rushed towards Bhabude, threatened and beat him, and then snatched his motorcycle and mobile phone and fled the scene,” said a police officer. He added, “He was so shocked after the incident that he returned home the next day and lodged a complaint at the police station. The police then registered a case for investigation.”
The complainant could not provide any descriptive details about the robbers, the police said. Investigators initially checked CCTV footage installed near the scene but could not identify the suspects due to dim lighting on the highway.
However, the officers continued to question the complainant and he eventually recalled that a mechanical sweeper, a minivan, a truck and several cars passed by during the robbery.
“We then checked the CCTV footage and traced the route of the mechanical sweeper. We obtained the license plate number and the driver and two sweepers were brought in. They told us that they had cameras installed in their car,” said an officer.
The police then checked the footage and the front camera on the car clearly captured the two robbers in the light of the car lights.
Investigators then checked the footage of more than 100 CCTV cameras installed along the highway and surrounding areas to track the suspects. Eventually, the police identified the suspects as 23-year-old Vedant Sachin Yeram and 23-year-old Kunal Mukesh Sondkar and found them at their residence in Thane.
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