Mechanic with a bunch of car keys turns out to be serial vehicle lifter

A former mechanic with a large collection of duplicate keys has been arrested for stealing a Toyota Fortuner and at least three motorcycles. He targeted the vehicles that were put up for sale on OLX, police said.

Bharath B M alias Preetham, a resident of Channasandra, stole a Toyota Fortuner, two Royal Enfield motorcycles and a Benelli motorbike. He came under the police radar after the owner of Toyota Fortuner filed a complaint, said Sanjeev M Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West).

Tabrez Ahmed PA, a scrap businessman, told the police that his Toyota Fortuner (KA 05/MS 9677) was stolen from the BBMP parking lot on JC Road between August 6 and 9.

Ahmed had put up his car for sale on OLX. On August 6, around 4.45 pm, a man called him up, showing interest in buying the SUV. The same day, Ahmed took him on a test drive. Around 6.10 pm, he returned to the parking lot.

Bharath told Ahmed he liked the car and that he would come back along with his father by 8 pm to make a deal. But he never returned. When Ahmed called on the number, the man on the other end of the line said it was the wrong number and hung up. Ahmed didn't think much of this. But when he went to the parking lot to get the SUV on August 9, he was shocked to find it missing. He filed a police complaint.

Kalasipalyam police were flummoxed because the car key wasn't stolen. Inspector L T Chandrashekar decided to check the number from where Ahmed had received the call. It turned out to be the number of a roadside vendor selling face masks and hand sanitisers. The vendor told the police that a man had purchased a five-litre sanitiser bottle from him and borrowed his phone to make a call.

Based on the vendor's testimony and other clues, police tracked down Bharath. Police learnt that he had dropped out of a polytechnic course and later worked as a mechanic in an automobile showroom. While working there, he had collected a large number of car keys and later used them to steal cars.

After the test drive, Bharath gave Ahmed a similar key of the car and stole the original, which he used to drive off the next day. Until Bharath was arrested, Ahmed had no idea that the key in his possession was a duplicate one.