Bengaluru: Interstate thieves targetting KTM, Royal Enfield bullet bikes during lockdown arrested

Two inter-state thieves, who were targetting high-end bikes during the lockdown, are now in police custody.

The Bommanahalli police on Thursday arrested Periswamy alias 'Boy' (20) and Harish alias Maari (21), residents of Hosur in Tamil Nadu for allegedly stealing KTM Duke, Royal Enfield and other high-end bikes in the city and recovered five vehicles from them.

According to the police, the duo would target these bikes parked along the road or in front of paying guest accommodations in BTM Layout and Bommanahalli. They suspect that the duo could be the part of an eight-member gang.

"Once they identify a bike, they would observe the movement of the public in the vicinity and gradually sit on the vehicle. Later they would break the handlock. After pushing the bikes for a metre, they would interlink the ignition switch by bypassing the wire and ride them to Hosur," a senior police officer said.

School dropouts, the duo wanted to make quick money to meet their expenditure and satisfy their craze for the expensive bikes, the officer added.

At the border points, the duo would change the bike numbers and forge documents to mislead checkpost officials.

"The duo confessed that there was a huge demand for KTM bikes, Enfield bullets and Yamaha RX bikes. After riding the stolen bikes for a couple of days, they would sell them off for cheaper price without any documents," another officer said.

"Most of the bikes stolen were during the lockdown time when people hardly came out," the officer added.

With their arrest, two cases in Bommanahalli and three in Mico Layout police limits have been detected now, the police said.

The recovered bikes include three KTM duke, a Royal Enfield Classic and a Yamaha Rx 135. "If we catch other members of the gang more bikes may be recovered," an investigating officer said.