Bangalore: Bankrupt due to gambling, youth lifts bikes; arrested

A 24-year-old man, who went bankrupt due to his addiction to gambling and took up crime to bail himself out, ran out of luck when the long arm of law caught up with him.

For a year, N Ashwathanarayana thrived on lifting motorcycles from JP Nagar, Banasawadi, Kodigehalli, Hebbal, Yelahanka, Yelahanka New Town and Devanahalli.

His romance with crime fizzled out recently when the police arrested him and recovered 26 motorcycles worth Rs13 lakh.

A resident of Ganganahalli village in Chikkaballapur district, Ashwathanarayana had a fetish for Hero Honda Splendor bikes; only two vehicles seized were from other brands.

Rewind to a year ago: Ashwathanarayana owned a truck that ferried goods.

He used to drive it himself. Gambling did the youth in and he had to part with the truck. He joined a company as a driver.
The salary he received was not enough to drive his addiction — gambling.

In came the plan to generate money—lifting bikes would spin his fortunes, or so he thought.

Ashwathanarayana would arrange for fake keys to steal motorcycles. Fortune smiled upon him as he became an expert at bike-lifting. All it took was five minutes to steal a bike.

The bikes would be disposed of in his native place at a selling
price of Rs10,000-Rs15,000 for each vehicle.

Ashwathanarayana also gave fake registration book to villagers.
The money he made satiated his obsession for gambling.
Acting on a tip-off, the JP Nagar police arrested the offender recently.