The brothers, who are residents of Rural Thane, would come to the western suburbs and steal motorbikes from malls and garages when they were left unattended. The brothers were experts at starting motorbikes without keys as long as the owners did not lock the handles. After stealing the bikes, they would sell the bikes for around Rs 2000-3000 and use the money to fuel their drinking habits. The two were produced for custody on Tuesday.

The Borivali police had been reacting to five cases of motorcycle theft near shopping malls. They set a trap after being informed by their sources about the brothers’ next target. The brothers used to hang around garages and malls and observe their victims. They would go to parking areas in the malls and pick up any bike whose handle was not locked.