Police on Wednesday nabbed two men involved in motorcycle thefts. The arrested, Jimmy, 32, and Poulalam, 22, were natives of Manipur.
Police on Wednesday nabbed two men involved in motorcycle thefts. The arrested, Jimmy, 32, and Poulalam, 22, were natives of Manipur. Five motorcycles worth Rs4 lakh have been seized.
In the past week, five men from Manipur have been arrested for motorcycle-lifting. Police suspect that a gang from Manipur has been operating in the city.
The thieves targeted high-end motorcycles, such as Yamaha YZF, R15 and Bajaj Pulsar, and took the vehicles to Nagaland and Manipur. Investigators found that the gang had rented a couple of houses, and about three or four men stayed in each house.
Four motorcycle thefts were registered by Viveknagar police over a short span, and the station inspector decided to form a team to nab the culprits. The team was sent out on night beats, and they observed that the vehicles went missing in the wee hours of the day. The team then began early-morning rounds.
Last week, the team of cops found two motorcycles parked outside a football ground, 100 metres from Viveknagar police station. Cross-checking registration numbers, they found the numbers tallied with those of bikes reported stolen. Without getting after the football players, they followed the men on the bikes, and went to their home in Viveknagar.
A vigil was kept on the house, and once the men were out, the cops opened the window and spotted a laptop, printer and other equipment. The next day, police raided the house and questioned the gang. They found that the men were busy making forged documents for stolen bikes. All the thieves were youth, in the 21-23 age range.
Police found that all the men were earlier working in private firms, and earning Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 a month. The vehicle-lifting scheme allowed them access to bigger money.
“The gang has many alcoholics and drug addicts, and some regularly go to prostitutes. They steal motorcycles from bars, restaurants, and houses,” police said.
The gang is estimated to have stolen over 40 motorcycles. They are suspected to have operated in Adugodi, Mico Layout, Madivala, and Koramangala police station limits Forging documents
The men used to download the logo of RTO office from the Internet and create documents. They also forged the seal and signature of RTO officers. The gang even had the expertise to forge insurance and NOC certificates. They entered the engine numbers on the RC book, to avoid trouble while transferring the bikes to Nagaland and Manipur.
No customer contact
The gang sold the motorcycles to Manipur natives residing in Bangalore. But the men never gave their contact details to their customers.
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