The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Dubai-based duo orchestrate car thefts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dubai-based duo orchestrate car thefts

Staff Reporter

35 high-end vehicles recovered, six arrested

IN THE NET: The cars that were recovered being displayed at BRV Parade Grounds in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: The Organised Crime Prevention Cell of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested five men, who were allegedly working for two Dubai-based men, on charges of vehicle theft and recovered 35 cars, all valued at Rs. 1.5 crore.

After having a look at these cars that were displayed at BRV Parade Grounds here on Tuesday, Commissioner of Police Neelam Achuta Rao told presspersons that the arrested had stolen the vehicles from Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Most of them were high-end vehicles.

Mr. Achuta Rao said Hajika and Moulvi Azam, currently in Dubai, had been guiding their accomplices here in stealing and disposing of the vehicles. The masterminds also were involved in vehicle theft cases in India and had fled the country as they were on the run from the police, he said.

The arrested were identified as Ajith Kumar alias Ajit Singh (24) of Tumkur Road, Zakir Hussain (25) of Nagavara, Santosh (24) of Srirangapatna in Mandya district, Noushad (32) of Thiruvananthapuram and Shaji Keshavan (33) of Sultanbatheri in Kerala.

They had sold the stolen vehicles after changing the number plates, engine and chassis numbers. They took the help of some local gangsters such as Sajjad and Bablu to dispose of the vehicles.

Mr. Achuta Rao said the city police would shortly convene a meeting to discuss measures to keep a tab on inter-State vehicle thieves.

The arrest and recoveries were made by a team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police B.K. Shivaram and comprising Inspectors Revanna, Krishna Kumar, Nanjunde Gowda, Ashokan, Karigowdar and sub-inspector Naganna Gowda.

In another case, the Homicide and Burglary Cell of the CCB has arrested Mallesh alias Ravi (27) of Hosur in Tamil Nadu on charges of chain snatching and recovered gold chains worth Rs. 4.5 lakh.

After snatching the chains along with the mangalasutras, Mallesh had dropped the mangalasutras in the hundi of the Sri Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati, the police said.

Mallesh and his accomplice Nagaraj, who is at large, rode a motorcycle and snatched chains from women after threatening them with knives. They had robbed 10 women of their chains in K.R. Puram, Ramamurthynagar, MICO Layout, Madivala, Jnana Bharathi, Magadi Road, Hebbal, Tilaknagar and Kolar Rural police station limits, the police said.

Mallesh, who was wanted in 16 other chain snatching cases, is also an accused in a murder case in Thali police station in Tamil Nadu, the police said.

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