MUMBAI: The Vanrai police on Friday busted an inter-state gang that stole trucks and other heavy vehicles and resold them in Rajasthan and Gujarat after creating fake registration documents. The police seized six heavy vehicles, worth around ₹1.50 crore, from the gang.
According to an officer of Vanrai police station, on June 8 around 1pm, a 10-wheeler Tata truck was stolen from a cement godown in Goregaon East. Based on a complaint lodged by the vehicle owner, Vanrai police registered a case against unidentified thieves under section 303(2) (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
While scanning through CCTV footage of the Western Express Highway, police eventually noticed the stolen truck travelling towards Gujarat. A police team tracked it down to Surat and arrested a certain Ramswaroop Singh, 44, with the help of the Gujarat Police. The truck was brought to Mumbai along with the arrested accused.
During questioning, Singh told the police that he was directed by the gang leader, identified as Javed Abdullah Shaikh, 45, a resident of Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra, to steal the vehicle and take it to Surat, where the number plate was to be changed to keep it ready for sale.
Vanrai police arrested Shaikh last week. The police said that he was wanted in seven cases of vehicle thefts across Maharashtra. “Shaikh has in the past stolen vehicles from Nashik, Sangli, Mumbai, Ahmednagar and taken them to Rajasthan to sell them to potential buyers,” said the officer of Vanrai Police Station.
Based on the information provided by Shaikh during interrogation, the crime detection team of Vanrai Police Station left for Rajasthan and recovered six more stolen heavy vehicles from Banswara, Dongarpur and Salumbar districts.
Vanrai police produced the arrested duo in court on Friday and secured his custody for further investigation. “We are now trying to trace other members of Shaikh’s gang and also find out the buyers of the stolen vehicles,” said the officer.