Arrested for stealing buses, Ahmedabad man says he ‘did it to clear sons’ education debt’

A father driven into debt for his children’s career allegedly stole three private buses as his sons abandoned him after getting jobs.

Vadodara police nabbed Dharmesh Baraiya, a resident of Ahmedabad's Naroda, for stealing private minibuses from three different locations in Vadodara.

After a mini-bus belonging to Shankardada Travels was stolen from the Atladara area, Atladara Police Station’s Police Inspector M R Sangada, the staff formed different teams and began investigations using technical sources and CCTV footage.

During the investigation, near Khiskoli Circle, Vishwamitri, a man was found acting suspicious. 

When questioned, he identified himself as Dharmendra alias Dharmesh Babubhai Baraiya. 

He confessed that five days earlier, he had stolen a mini-bus from in front of Anand Party Plot in Atladara. 

The bus was seized from the ground of the Bajrang Nagar slum in Padra. He also admitted that about 25 days earlier, he had stolen two more buses from the areas under J P Road Police Station and Karelibaug Police Station. These two buses were recovered from Naroda and Rajkot.

During police interrogation, it was revealed that the accused used to run a car rental business. He had provided higher education to his elder son in Italy to build his career, and had his younger son study IT. However, after getting job placements, his sons did not provide him with financial help, which left him burdened with debt. To repay this debt, the father started stealing luxury buses.

Previously, four theft cases had already been registered against the accused.