Gang steals five tipper lorries, gets them re-registered

A six-member gang from Salem, Tamil Nadu, which stole tipper lorries and got them registered afresh by bribing transport officials of the neighbouring state, has been caught here, the police said.

The gang stole five tippers and a lorry from the highway, construction sites and garages. Later, it bribed transport officials in Tamil Nadu and got the heavy vehicles re-registered. The suspects had good contacts in the Transport Department and paid officials

Rs 40,000 for registration of each stolen vehicle.
The stolen vehicles are valued at Rs 1.5 crore. The gang members — Raja alias Palani, Balakrishna, Poovaragan, Raja, Jayakumar and Dhanpal, all from Tamil Nadu — were trying to sell off the vehicles. The Bengaluru police got wind of this and sent a team to Salem to track down the suspects. “We also seized the vehicles and are checking how exactly they had stolen these vehicles. We are also trying to trace the original owners of these lorries,” a senior police officer said.

“During interrogation, we learnt the suspects had high contacts in the Transport Department of Tamil Nadu. The officials had helped them create another set of documents for the stolen vehicles and would get them re-registered under different names. The suspects paid Rs 40,000 per vehicle to the officials for documentation,” the officer added.
The Bengaluru police have got in touch with Tamil Nadu police for more details about the suspects.

“We are also trying to identify the transport officials who helped in re-registration of the stolen vehicles. Once we get their names, we will get to know how many vehicles were registered in this manner,” the officer said.

The gang members are said to have earlier stolen vehicles from parking lots, highways and near homes. They are also accused of committing crimes in other states. The police are

ascertaining whether they stole vehicles in Bengaluru, too.