Cab driver puts on sleuth's hat, helps cops nab scooter thieves

He was getting traffic challans for his stolen Honda Activa, and he smartly used the locations to trace it

Cab driver Ajay Kumar’s Honda Activa scooter was stolen on February 1, and he continued getting challans for traffic offences for a full month after that.

He got the police to scan their CCTV footage in areas where the rider was challaned. He then posted the clips on Twitter.

Ajay Kumar did not forget to tag police stations covering the areas where the Honda Activa was spotted. The police recovered his bike on April 18, two days after the tweet went viral. Ajay is one of the lucky few to get his stolen scooter back. Many gangs in Bengaluru, after stealing two-wheelers, repaint them and change their look completely. Most bike thieves are between 17 and 28 years, police say.

Rajeev A, police inspector, Byadarahalli, from where Ajay’s bike was stolen, says, “The accused in this particular case — Gousmuddin and Roshan— are habitual offenders. They can break the lock of just about any bike.”

C K Baba, DCP, north east division, recently busted a gang that had stolen 14 bikes.

“They had used YouTube tutorials to learn how to steal bikes. They broke open locks and started the ignition without a key. They connect wires and move the bikes,” explains Baba.

Thieves sell stolen bikes with the help of mechanics they know. “Most of the offenders are minors who sell these bikes at throwaway prices or use them to commit more crimes,” he says.

Dharmender Kumar Meena, DCP, North, says expensive bikes, like the Royal Enfield Bullet, are being stolen these days. “The vehicles change hands so fast that it becomes a challenge to trace them,” says Meena.

Harish Pandey, DCP, south, says police look for a pattern to catch bike thieves. “Each member of the gang comes with a specialised skill. If one steals the bikes, another changes the parts and number plates and a third works towards selling the bikes. The first thing that they do is to change the chassis number to render the vehicles untraceable,” says Pandey.

His division, he says, has managed to recover 60 per cent of all stolen two-wheelers. The most frequently stolen bikes are Splendour, Yamaha RX and Duke. “They are sold for between Rs 5,000 and Rs 2 lakh,” he explains.

A stolen bike was used to commit a recent murder. Multiple owners and multiple offences clearly complicate the case, he told Metrolife.