The gang had ordered 50 fake smart cards from China, which they would print and laminate with false registration details to fool customers on marketplace websites
Lashkar police station
After a gang of thieves was arrested by the police on the day of visarjan for stealing, and then selling, two-wheelers online, it has now emerged that the crooks were using bogus smart cards from China to fool their customers.
The thieves were taken to Lashkar police station after they were found trying to steal a two-wheeler in Camp on the day of Ganpati visarjan. Pic/Shashank Sane
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The Lashkar police nabbed the thieves on September 8, during the visarjan security checks, when they chanced upon two men picking the handle lock of a bike parked in Camp. They were identified as Ayman Jamadar (25), a resident of Kondhwa, and Faheem Mapkar (27), from Mahad in Raigad. Two days later, the police caught up with the third member of the group, Mahabaleshwar resident Yusuf Golandaz (24).
The trio would steal the bikes and then post adverts on an online marketplace, along with their contact numbers. Once they found a customer and finished the transaction, they would throw the SIM card to avoid being traced.
The robbers had ordered 50 counterfeit smart cards from China six months ago. After stealing a two-wheeler, they would change its registration number plate and print the new false details on one of the smart cards and laminate it, before handing it over to the customer.
They confessed to having stolen five bikes from Mahad and Panchgani in the past two months, disposing of all of them through such online sales.
Barkat Mujawar, senior police inspector of Lashkar police station, said, “They had distributed their work — Jamadar was the mastermind and would upload the pictures of the two-wheelers online and make the fake smart cards.
Mapkar was responsible for changing the number plate and would give the chassis number and engine details to Jamadar. Golandaz was responsible for stealing the bikes. He would look for bikes with handle locks that were easy to open, and would start the vehicle with the help of a wire.”
“During interrogation, Jamadar claimed he got the idea while he was searching online portals and learned how some websites can be used to sell stolen vehicles. During the process, he came across a China-based company that provided them with duplicate smart cards,” Mujawar added.
Golandaz and his wife worked at a restaurant at Panchgani, while Jamadar worked at an international call centre. Mapkar had returned from Abu Dhabi last year, and was also working for the same call centre, but had left his job about two months ago, before getting involved in thefts.
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