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Rajasthan's 'cradle of vehicle thieves' gang strikes it rich in Bengaluru, held

Police zeroed in on the gang while investigating the theft of a scooter owned by one Vidhyashree S N in Sunkadakatte in February
Last Updated 02 August 2021, 23:12 IST

Three young men from a Rajasthan village known as the cradle of vehicle thieves have been arrested for stealing 26 two-wheelers in Bengaluru in just seven months.

The gang was formed by a 20-year-old who was inspired by the village’s legacy. Its chief architect was a 20-year-old vehicle mechanic-turned-social media influencer known for singing Rajasthani songs and uploading them to his Instagram page. The third member was a 21-year-old who once worked in a hardware shop in Bengaluru.

The gang came together in January this year and tasted great success. Here’s their story:

Vikas Kumar, 20, worked in a Nagarabhavi garage for a year. He is particularly gifted in vehicle repair.

He can easily cut ignition wires and effortlessly join them to switch the vehicle on without a key. He is also a part-time Rajasthani singer who composes his own songs, and has uploaded them to Instagram. But the pandemic upended his life. Last year’s lockdown forced him to go back to his village.

The mastermind, Dashrath, 20, and the third member of the gang, Dhavaldas, 21, also lost their jobs at the city’s hardware shops.

Back in their village and with no jobs, the trio decided to take to crime after getting the inspiration from fellow villagers who had made it big as vehicle thieves.

Dashrath stayed put in Bengaluru while Kumar shuttled between the city and his village. Their first strike came in January.

Dashrath would call Kumar, and he would fly down. They stole vehicles parked outside homes and hid them in a forest in Andrahalli. They always struck at night.

After three to four days, the pair would take the two-wheelers from the forest, change their registration numbers and ride to Rajasthan.

The gang took extra care while changing the registration numbers in order to avoid the police. If they stole a KTM Duke, they looked for the motorbikes put up for sale on OLX, download documents online and forge them before printing them out.

The downloaded registration number was then used for the stolen bike. This minimised police scrutiny. Police usually don’t ask for original vehicle documents or check the engine and chassis numbers if the rider has a photocopy of the documents.

The gang used the same documents to sell off the two-wheelers.

Police zeroed in on the gang while investigating the theft of a scooter owned by one Vidhyashree S N in Sunkadakatte in February.

When police tracked them down to Rajasthan, they were amazed to find four stolen KTM Duke motorcycles there.

The gang stole Rs 32.7 lakh worth of two-wheelers that included Royal Enfield, Bajaj Pulsar, Hero Splendor, Honda Activa, Suzuki Access, etc, from Vijayanagar, Kamakshipalya, Jnanabarathi and Annapoorneshwari Nagar areas of West Bengaluru.

Dashrath’s profile on social media proclaimed him as a police sub-inspector from Karnataka.

He had even fixed a siren and beacon to a Royal Enfield bike. All these things helped the police track him down.

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(Published 02 August 2021, 19:50 IST)

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