Gang would steal bikes - once from under a police board warning about such thefts - exchange the vehicle's chassis and engine and sell it to unsuspecting customers as a modified bike
The board warning about bike thefts
A gang of bike thieves from Mulund managed to evade the police and tempt fate by stealing motorcycles, once right from under a board warning of vehicle thefts, but they could only go on for so long before the long arm of the law caught them. The gang of four was arrested last week by unit 9 of the Mumbai crime branch, led by police inspector Mahesh Desai and officer Valmiki Kore. The arrest came about after a showroom complained about the gang changing the chassis and engine number of a bike.
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Four held, two missing
The group revealed their modus operandi to the cops during questioning. They told the police they once stole seven moped bikes from under a board outside R mall in Mulund as a ‘challenge’. Soon after this theft, cops had put up a board warning people about vehicle thefts in the area, but the gang managed to steal bikes once again - from right under the warning board.
While four members of the gang, identified as Asif Khan, Sahil Gaanjha, Arif Khan and Milind Sawant, have been arrested by the Bandra unit of crime branch, they are looking for two more accomplices. Deputy commissioner of police Nisar Tamboli said police have recovered around 50 bikes from the arrested accused and they were further probing the case. Sources said the gang was active since June 2017 and has committed thefts all over the city. Sawant used to steal the bikes and has previously been named in cases of vehicle theft at Malad, Kandivali and Charkop.
As per officials, one of the suspects has a garage and when customers used to come for repairs or modifications, the accused would ask them to pay a bit extra to modify the bike. After this, the gang would steal a bike of similar make, replace the chassis and engine number and give it to the unsuspecting customers. But their luck ran out after a Honda showroom in Bandra complained about a bike’s chassis and engine number being changed. The gang was nabbed soon after. They were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days on Monday.
50
No. of bikes recovered from the arrested accused
Also read: Thief poses as customer, steals second-hand bike from Mumbai shop
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