The Hindu : `Kingpin' in vehicle theft case nabbed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

`Kingpin' in vehicle theft case nabbed

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 3 . The city police have busted a criminal gang specialising in vehicle thefts with the arrest of a 27-year-old youth identified as Unni alias `Thiruvallam' Unni.

More than 74 vehicle thefts in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been traced back to the gang headed by Unni.

The Circle Inspector of Police, Museum, P. A. Varghese, who heads the city police team probing vehicle theft cases, said Unni was arrested along with Prasad (23), from Idappazhanji junction in the wee hours of Tuesday.

At the time of the arrest, Unni and Prasad were travelling on a Hero Honda motorbike, which was reported stolen from Kattakkada on January 23. The duo was using the motorbike after fixing fake registration plates. The Police suspect Prasad, a resident of Prasanth Nagar in Fort area, to be an agent for Unni.

The police had launched a covert operation involving a network of informants to nab Unni following the arrest of his close associate, Aji alias Saji (20) of Thiruvallam, last week. The arrest of Saji had shed light on the gang's operations.

The police found that most of the stolen vehicles were Mahindra vans conducting parallel services or belonging to educational institutions.

"The vans are much in demand in Tamil Nadu. The stolen vehicles are either stripped for their spare-parts or sold to unsuspecting clients using forged Registration Certificate (RC) books," an official said.

The gang's operations were `remote controlled' by agents in Tamil Nadu who placed orders for stolen vehicles in accordance with the market demand. If they needed a Fiat Uno, they would direct the gang to steal one. The theft was conducted by removing the handle locks of the vehicle and joining the ignition wires.

"Most of the vehicle thefts had taken place between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. The thieves make a high speed run for Tamil Nadu through the Kaliackavila border. The agent for the stolen vehicle would be contacted on mobile phone and asked to wait at a particular point. By 7 a.m., the vehicle would be in the `safe custody' of the agent," an official said.

The gang members received up to Rs. 60,000 for a stolen vehicle, which the agent would sell for Rs. 1.75 lakh. If the vehicles were brand new, the agent would procure a forged invoice and furnish a fake ration card to get the stolen vehicle registered at any of the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in Tamil Nadu.

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