CHENNAI: The city police on Thursday arrested four people in connection with a gang that stole and resold at least 50 high-end motor bikes. According to the police, 10 men were arrested in early October for stealing bikes such as Royal Enfield, KTM Duke 200, RC 200 and Pulsar NS. Following up on that, the special team nabbed the four near Madhya Kailash.
The accused were identified as J Sultan Liaga Ali (32) of Thoothukudi, D Baskar (37) of Tondiarpet, A Ismail (35) of Pudupet, and R Shohan Kumar (32). The police have recovered 13 vehicles, mostly Royal Enfield bikes, from them.
So far, 14 people who were the main members of the team have been arrested, and a hunt is on to nab a few more. Among the accused, Shohan Kumar is an aerospace engineer. “He bought engines of stolen vehicles and provided ready-made projets to college students. He had sold the parts for prices anywhere between Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh,” said Nagarajan, Inspector of Police.
Explaining the modus operandi, a senior police officer said, they operated as two different groups. The vehicles were mostly stolen from Kilpauk, Periamet, Nungambakkam, Saidapet, Royapuram and Korukupet.
“The men identify blind spots from the CCTV cameras installed in the city. One group would identify and steal high-end vehicles, and park them in blind spots. The other team would take the bikes two days later and drive to an isolated location outside the city,” said the police, adding that there are WhatsApp groups through which the gang takes in order and then sells the bikes.
So far, the police have recovered 46 vehicles worth over Rs 80 lakh. A special team, under Inspector Nagarajan and Head Constable Saravanakumar, had spent hours combing through CCTV footage before finding the link to the crime.