CHENNAI: A racket unveiled by a small team of the city police has shocked senior officers after it emerged that motorbike thieves had the support of men in khaki. Even as investigations are on, police recovered 17 two-wheelers and three cars, and are questioning a suspect, his partner, a mechanic, and police personnel including a Sub Inspector.
In the last two months, 13 bikes were stolen from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, forcing the Flower Bazar police to form a special team to probe the matter. It was a modest unit, with head constable Seenivasan and two constables, Suresh Kumar and Vinod.
The first breakthrough came when the team received a tip off that a mechanic shop near MKB Nagar police station had a number plate of a bike that was reported stolen from the hospital premises. During inspection on Thursday night, two bikes with the same number were found. When questioned, the mechanic, Shahim Shah claimed that it was a mistake. However, the story did not hold for long and he confessed to being a part of a bike-lifting network.
According to police, Shah said his role was to change the number plates and sell the bikes, especially to those from other districts. For this, he took photocopies of RC books of the bikes his unsuspecting customers brought to his mechanic shop. These numbers were then used on the stolen bikes before selling them.