PUDUCHERRY: The police on Sunday arrested two persons allegedly involved in motorcycle theft and seized 20 stolen bikes from them.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Omvir Singh Bishnoi said the arrested were Karthick (21), son of Moorthy from Murungapakkam, and Raji alias Ramanan (19), son of Singaravelu, of the same area.
He said that in the wake of the continuous theft of bikes from different areas, the Director General of Police P Kamaraj and Inspector General of Police Praveer Ranjan formed a special team to track the two down.
The team, headed by Superintendent of Police (South) T Bairavasamy, consisted of inspector M Ganesh and sub-inspectors K Priya, S Ramesh and K Ramesh, and members of the Special Task Force (STF).
The police personnel of Reddiarpalayam, led by sub-inspector S Ramesh, were sent in muftis to various places, chased and caught Karthick and Ramanan, who were on a motorcycle, near a junction on Villianur-Perambai road at Moolakulam.
On interrogation, the two admitted to riding a stolen bike and confessed to stealing 19 other motorcycles from various places.
The two further said they had stolen bikes from Reddiarpalayam, Mudaliarpet, Mettupalayam, D’Nagar, Orleanpet police station limits and from areas bordering Tamil Nadu.
Based on their statements, all 20 bikes, worth `8 lakh, were recovered.
The two arrested persons said they stole bikes mostly from bars and often sell them to bootleggers across the border. The SSP (L&O) said the tipplers, who visit the bars and arrack shops, should take care of their two-wheelers from being lifted.
He said police have recovered a total of 39 motorbikes and arrested the bike-lifters in the last six months from different police station limits. The SSP also said the DGP and IGP Praveer Ranjan would suitably reward the police personnel, who arrested the two bike-lifters and seized 20 bikes.
Plan for ‘Safe City’
The Police Department has submitted a proposal - Safe City Project - to the Ministry of Home Affairs to bring all parts of the UT under CCTV surveillance, Omvir Singh Bishnoi, senior SP (law and order), said on Sunday.
Answering a query on the steps taken to thwart burglaries, he said once the clearance is given, the project would be implemented within six months. In the past, Puducherry police had repeatedly requested the shop owners and other business establishments to set up CCTVs as a preventive measure against criminals. The CCTV footage had helped the police crack many cases, he added.
Encouraged by this feedback, police are now seeking to instal CCTVs at all vital points to prevent crime.