AURANGABAD: Six members of an inter-state gang stealing heavy-duty tipper trucks and selling them in several parts of the country were arrested in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra, police said on Monday.
Superintendent of Police Mokshada Patil identified them as local resident Shivaji Lahire (26), his Nashik-based relative Mahesh Birute (38), and ring leader Abdul Kaleem (40) from Surat in Gujarat.
Divakar Eknath Chavan (22) and Subneshkumar Bhatia (26) use to steal the trucks from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, while Mohammad Istikhan would deactivate the GPS and other equipment in them, Patil added.
Lahire was held two days ago and his questioning led to the arrest of five others on Sunday, Patil informed.
"They would sell the trucks across the country with forged documents and fake numbers. We started a probe after a truck theft case was registered on February 11 in Vaijapur police station," the SP said.
Two cars and a tipper truck have been recovered while a team had gone to take possession of two trucks parked in Deenanagar area in Punjab, the official added.