Beware, bike thieves at malls in Ahmedabad!

The next time you park your bike at a mall or a multiplex, be careful! These are the spots that the bike thieves target, a fact confessed by a few of them arrested on Thursday. In two separate operations, officials of Ahmedabad city and rural police nabbed five persons in connection with rampant vehicle thefts in the city. During investigation, the police recovered 31 bikes from their possession.

Based on a tip-off, Vastrapur police kept a watch near Vastrapur lake on Tuesday evening and nabbed Yunus Shaikh, who was passing on a stolen Discover bike. During interrogation, Shaikh, 24, a resident of Juhapura, admitted to having stolen more than 18 bikes from the city in the last one year.

He said he had sold them to Vinod Joshi, a resident of Adgam village of Sami taluka of Patan district. Shaikh used to steal the bikes from different areas. For instance, seven were stolen from Vejalpur, two from Aslali and one each from Naranpura, Satellite and Ellisbridge.

According to cops, Shaikh used to be helped by three friends to steal the vehicles - Akku, Saddam and Firoz, who are still absconding.
After nabbing Shaikh, cops went to Adgam and nabbed Joshi, who used to sell the stolen bikes for Rs12-15,000 to locals. Joshi’s main clientele included criminals, who need stolen vehicles to conduct loot, theft or robbery.

“It is convenient for them to throw away the bike if they are chased by police. Thus, even if we trace the owner through the number, we cannot catch the criminals, as the bike was stolen,” said Chetan Bharwad, head constable of Vastrapur. Till now, Joshi has admitted to having sold 17 bikes to local criminals. After some intense search operations in that area, Vastrapur police found 16 bikes and brought them to the police station.

In another operation, Sanand police busted a similar racket being run by a garage owner in Ranip and two of his agents. Based on a tip-off, NS Mallik, senior police inspector of Sanand police, caught Bharat K Koli, who was passing on a stolen bike at Mankol crossroads near Nal Sarovar on Tuesday night.

Investigations revealed that Koli and his accomplice Bharat Patel used to sell stolen bikes on behalf of the kingpin Chandrakant Prajapati, a resident of Ronak Park in New Ranip. According to police, Prajapati owns a garage and used to steal bikes from malls, complexes, and temples near SG Highway. Based on the information, cops have arrested the trio and recovered 15 bikes from them.