BCom graduates turn bike thieves for drugs

Two BCom graduates who allegedly stole high-end motorcycles such as Royal Enfield and Bajaj Avenger and sold them off for as little as Rs 5,000 to buy drugs have been caught.

Police tracked down Mohammed Nihal, 26, from Tilaknagar, and Mohammed Ishaq, 31, from Jayanagar 1st Block, after a television channel aired the footage of the duo stealing a Bajaj Avenger by using a stolen Bajaj Pulsar.

In all, police have seized 14 stolen two-wheelers worth Rs 7 lakh from the suspects. The thefts were reported from Tilak Nagar, Commercial Street, Wilson Garden, Hulimavu, Cubbon Park, Byatarayanapura, Ashok Nagar and Suddaguntepalya police station limits.

The arrests were announced by Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar at a press conference on Wednesday.

Nihal, a native of Bhadravati, arrived in Bengaluru four years ago and started chauffeuring a Congress politician’s car. Ishaq was also a cab driver. The men soon got into drugs. But their earnings were not enough to meet the requirements of their drug addiction. They took to stealing two-wheelers, developing a liking for high-end motorcycles.

How they were caught

The men went on a theft spree, starting off by stealing a Bajaj Pulsar from Jayanagar 9th Block. The vehicle owner filed a complaint with the Tilaknagar police but the investigation didn’t make much headway. The suspects became emboldened and used the stolen Bajaj Pulsar to lift a few more motorcycles from Richmond Road, besides stealing a Bajaj Avenger.

A television channel recently aired the CCTV footage of the duo stealing the Bajaj Avenger. The camera even captured the registration number of the Bajaj Pulsar that the duo had used in the theft. Police borrowed the footage from the channel. The breakthrough came when detectives traced the duo to Tilaknagar and Jayanagar.