Mumbai: In a rare show of alacrity, the city police on Thursday tracked down an Argentinian tourist’s luggage after he had left it behind in an autorickshaw, in just 11 hours.
According to officers at Andheri police station, Agustin Gonzalez, the complainant, is on a trip to India and was touring Mumbai when the unfortunate incident occurred. Mr. Gonzalez approached the police around noon on Thursday and told them that he had forgotten his backpack, which contained two cameras, $1,000 in cash, his passport and Yellow Fever Certificate in an autorickshaw that he had taken from Chakala to Andheri railway station.
The police’s first clue came from a picture that Mr. Gonzalez had taken with a camera he was carrying. The picture had captured the autorickshaw he had travelled in, and the registration number was clearly visible.
The police then contacted the Regional Transport Office and obtained the address of the autorickshaw driver.
Senior PI Pandit Thorat, Andheri police station, said, “We sent a team to the address in Malad, but it was incorrect. We contacted the RTO again, and were given an address in Andheri. The driver was not at home when our team reached, and he doesn’t carry a cell phone, so we began doing the rounds of autorickshaw stands.” said .
Over the next few hours, constables were posted to keep an eye on autorickshaw stands in and around Andheri, as well as at railway stations where a large number of autorickshaws pick up fares several times a day.
Finally, around 11 p.m. on Thursday, the driver, Acchhelal Gupta, 58, was located at an autorickshaw stand in Vile Parle. Mr. Gonzalez's luggage was recovered from Mr. Gupta and returned to him.
In a letter of appreciation to the Andheri police, Mr. Gonzalez said, “I want to say ‘thank you’ to Andheri police station officers and team for their absolutely remarkable labour on duty, serving and helping the community. Everything was recovered and no harm was caused. They acted immediately and in a completely efficient way.”
