[gtabombay]

It was 10.30 pm on January 5th 2010. I was at Coffee Day, opposite Don Bosco Matunga. My Purple Pajero carrying the number plates (MH-01-AH-5093) was parked at the Don Bosco school gate. I was getting late, because I had to meet some one at Antop Hill before going home. It was proving to be particularly difficult to get rid of the lady who was with me at the coffee shop.

At last at 11 PM, I paid the bill. She wanted me to drop her to the bus stand, so we went back to the King Circle and I dropped her at the bus stop under the bridge and took the right turn ahead towards GTB Nagar and went to Antop Hill. It was 11.30 when I parked the vehicle at Antop Hill central school and went to house of my friends but I was too late. Their lights were off but since they had called me just 10 minutes back I rang the bell and left within ten minutes.

I felt a little confused when I came to get the vehicle, as I could find only empty space where I had parked it. First I thought I parked somewhere else. But soon it hit me -- my car was gone. My mind stopped working.

I ran the way I had come, but there was no sign of any moving vehicle. It was almost deserted at the time. I was at the Police Station within 5 minutes. They took 5 to 10 minutes to flash the wireless messages and order the naka-bandhis .

The officer at the station house prepared the FIR as I answered his queries. It was then that I realized that my wallet with all my credit/debit cards and driving licence etc. was in the car. The police man advised me to block the cards.

I made the decision at that moment not to block my cards and give a free hand to the thief. In the coming days this was to prove to be a good move as it would lead me to the identity of the thief and the magnitude of his operations.

I hoped the naka-bandhis would stop the vehicle and hear something by morning. But could not get any sleep that night, and for many nights after that.

If you are wondering about the seemingly irrelevant stuff at the beginning of the post, rest assured that all of this has a bearing on this incident.

The next day was horrible for me. The cops had not got any trace and I was getting tired without the car (my Petra having gone for service). Only at night did I think of checking my online accounts. I was not expecting any card usage so soon. But I was mistaken -- my debit card was swiped for Rs 500 early on 6th morning around 6.30 AM at Anjur Service Center. This is a petrol pump on the return side (towards Mumbai) of the Eastern Express Highway between Bhiwandi and Kalyan. By late afternoon on 7th I detected another card swipe at Mangaldeep Vashi ( sector 17).

Mangaldeep is a men's apparel store . Here they swiped for about Rs 2000/-

By this time I had approached Mr Arun Chavan at the Police Head quarters at Crawford Market and he directed me to API Kishore at the Yellow Gate police station. You may be aware that the Mumbai police has a crime branch unit fully dediacted to motor vehicle theft. This is the MV unit of the crime branch at Yellow Gate.

We immediately left for Vashi. At Mangaldeep there was no CC-TV and the charge slips were unsigned. The guy at the counter was a bit nervous. The Police inspectors finished their enquiries and we left without any clues.

Next day the MV unit and the Bajaj Allianze people searched all over Bhiwandi and Thane, without any success. The petrol pump staff were unable to remember the transaction. My friends undertook their own searches in Bhiwandi residential parking lots. There was no use.

This is my car which was stolen on the night of 5th from the same exact spot.
Vanished in 10 minutes flat. Also in the car was my wallet with credit cards,
debit cards, driving license and some stuff including one carl zeiss binocular.



By this time I was getting a bit nervous about my cards. These guys where buying jeans worth more than 2k and even tried to buy a watch worth Rs 18k but did not complete the transaction because the cashier asked for identity proof. So I moved my money to another account leaving a minimum of Rs 1000 in each account, but still could not block my credit cards as that would have been a warning. In any case, they were using only the debit cards. Unfortunately I was not having SMS alerts on my debit cards and the bank procedure was lengthy for activating it.

Till 9th evening there were no transactions, but on Sunday the 10th I came to know of a transaction of Rs 100 that had taken place on the previous night at 9PM. I decided to check this up myself as I had got back my Petra by this time.

I was not expecting much success this time either. This was at Aller ( Vashi Sector 17). When I reached Aller I was surprised to see that it was bang opposite Mangaldeep. Aller is again an upmarket men's store and I could not imagine what they could have purchased here for Rs 100.

The guy at the counter was smart and polite. He showed me the 100 rupees charge slip. When I asked him what it was for it came out that the entire transaction was for Rs 4500 odd rupees and he had tried first my card and when it failed the customer had given a different card. This was the breakthrough which I had never hoped for. Here I was with the charge slip of the thief himself (signed Nasrat Ali) because he had used his own debit card . This was his biggest mistake and all the risks I had taken had finally paid off. With this, his account itself would become an open book for me.

It was now time to block all my cards and get new ones issued as there was nothing more I could expect from keeping my cards exposed.

[BlackPearl]

@gtombay, sorry to hear about the theft. Hope that you have got the vehicle back in the same condition. It is the first time I have heard of a Pajero being stolen. It is not a very common car that the thieves can steal and get away easily.

[sudev]

Oh no man. What a way to be welcomed to the forums. Your first post and a theft at that!! This is going to be slow progress as all your posts are going to be moderated.

Hope this has a happy ending.

[jkrishnakj]

Very sorry to hear about the theft. Hope you have the car back now. Very keen to know the relevence of the last line in your post.

[Deeps]

Somehow, I get a feeling that you've been re-united with your car. Please prove my instinct right.

[v&v]

Sad to know about the theft. it too had the habit of forgetting wallet/mobile in the car but some have manage to overcome. Hooked to your post to know the development.

[splitsecond]

I am wondering how they managed to get away with pajero within 10 minutes?

[Ricky_63]

Welcome to the forum & sorry to hear of the theft. Did you have a gear lock or something ?? Any theft deterrent stuff ??

I better get my Pajero a gear lock - that should be some deterrent for a thief.

Hope you get your car back soon & in proper condition.

[gtabombay]

Thanks sudev, Blackpearl for comments. I also was under the impression that Pajero will not be under the radar of car thieves. How rudely I was proven wrong! Though it will become clear in the coming posts, I wish to alert all Pajero owners in advance that it is most sought after vehicle by the car thieves -- especially one man for whom it is the work of an instant to steal a Pajero. All Pajero and Scorpio owners please have some security installed in your car so that it cannot be started by a duplicate key. It is virtually impossible to prevent the theft of a Pajero except by disabling its engine somehow. Sorry, gear locks and the like will delay him by not more than 5 minutes.

So take care.

[gtabombay]

I am very sorry to inform that I have been unable to recover my vehicle thanks mostly to the Mumbai Police, in spite of relentless efforts of more than a year. The thief is still at large and my vehicle is still untraced -- may be it is in Nagaland!

[benbsb29]

Quite unfortunate, but waiting for the rest of the writeup.

Meanwhile, contrary to what you earlier felt about the Pajero not being a favourite with thieves, it does seem to be quite popular with them. I do remember earlier posts/threads on the forum about stolen Pajeros, and owners efforts to trace the vehicle.

[Arkin evoisrevo]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

It is the first time I have heard of a Pajero being stolen. It is not a very common car that the thieves can steal and get away easily.

Originally Posted by gtabombay

Thanks sudev, Blackpearl for comments. I also was under the impression that Pajero will not be under the radar of car thieves.

Well, there are two threads right on TBHP about stolen Pajeros.

Anyway, gtabombay, my heart reaches out to you and I'm sorry for you are going through. You say you haven't blocked your cards, have the thieves spent any money yet? I hope you get back your monster quick and post a review of it here.

[SILVERWOOD]

Dear gtabombay,

I am very sorry to hear about this theft.

Please keep the rest coming as this incident could help may of us secure our SUV's.

[RajaTaurus]

Sad to know that. I hope the date (year) of theft in the first post is a typo. Did you leave the car unlocked condition?

[maddy42]

Gosh. This is a bad way to enter this forum!! Seems like a bad experience. Was any of the people you met involved? As the story felt you were delayed on purpose!! Hope i am just guessing? Or am i watching tooo many movies! Gosh.

Please do not delay the story!!