Where there is a will, there is a way. For 45-year-old Govindsinh Rajput, 45, a resident of Soham Sanidhya Bungalows, the adage is what led him to recover his stolen pick-up van after the police’s lacklustre trailing of the case.
On December 21, Rajput’s vehicle was stolen. He approached the police but they could not trace it and allegedly even “belittled” his complaint. Soon after, he started scanning CCTV footage from various spots. On Saturday, he finally found the vehicle being dismantled near Haldarvas on Kathwada, and informed Naroda police.
The police are now allegedly claiming credit for recovering the stolen vehicle, stating in a press release that they seized the pick-up van from Dastan Circle based on a tip-off. Police claimed they arrested the ‘car-lifter,’ Ranjitsinh Dabhi of Ratanpur in Kheda.
However, Rajput refuted all claims made by the police and said he took on the onus of getting back his vehicle, after “the police response left little hope.”
As he shared: “I started with scanning the CCTV footage of a warehouse near Dastan Bridge and spotted the vehicle at a Maruti Suzuki dealership located near Dastan Circle. Thereafter, I scanned several CCTV footages, including that from an Amul parlour, GIDC area and the toll plaza. In the last footage, I spotted the vehicle again being driven towards Haldarvas on Kathlal road. My friends also joined in till we actually saw a man dismantling a vehicle. On closer inspection, the number plate confirmed that the vehicle was mine, almost dismantled.”
He then informed Naroda police about the location of the stolen vehicle. “However, instead of seizing the vehicle in the dismantled condition, which could have been important evidence, the police got it assembled again. Then they took all the credit and arrested an accused, saying it was based on a tip-off,” Rajput added.
When asked, Naroda PS inspector S.J. Bhatia admitted that the vehicle was found in a dismantled state. It was assembled to bring it to the police station, he added. However, the press release issued by Naroda police stated that they caught the accused while he was driving the stolen vehicle near Dastan Circle.
Rajput claimed that the police were not with him when the vehicle was found. Inspector Bhatia also later contradicted his press release. He said, “My cops were with Rajput when they found the dismantled vehicle.”
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