Jamshedpur, Aug. 23 : In a breakthrough, the police busted a gang of bike lifters by arresting two youths from Bistupur late last night.Those arrested were identified as Sumit Kumar Yadav alias Kallu (21) MangalSardar(19), both residents of Sonari. The police have recovered three motorcycles from them.
Deputy superintendent of police CCR Sudhir Kumar said that Sumit who is a notorious criminal was sitting at a place behind Jamshedpur Co-operative College at about 10.30 pm. “After getting the tip off a team led by Bistupur thana OC, Srineewash rushed to the spot and raided the place where the team nabbed Sumit and his associate Mangal. One more youth who was also sitting there managed to escape,” said the DSP while talking to the newsmen.
DSP (CCR) said that when the police arrested Sumit, they found a bike from the spot. He said on verifying they established it to be a stolen bike.
“Later on being interrogated, both Sumit and Mangalrevealed that they had stolen the bike (JH05BR-3954) from Bistupur on Wednesday itself. Later the two were taken to their houses in Sonari from where the police recovered two more stolen bikes (JH05AR-7720 and JH05Y4694), which were stolen from Bistupur on July 31 and August 16 respectively,” said the DSP.
A senior officer said that the police administration is concerned over the situation and have taken measures like night patrolling and installation of barricades where police officials keep strict vigilance.
“We have formed teams that monitor different police stations. Moreover, night vigil has also been increased we suspect some inter-state gang is involved in the menace. We have also detained suspected youths and are interrogating them,” said the officer.
“The prices of the motor vehicles have shot up this is one of the many reasons that led to the rising cases of thefts. We have also found during our investigation that the stolen vehicles are dismantled and their parts are sold off as spare parts or built into new vehicle. Several gangs from West Bengal and Bihar are also involved in it,” said a senior police officer.
Requesting anonymity, a senior police officer the victims who are a part of the lower middle class do not generally protest to pursue the case. “This is the reason why the motorcycle theft issue has never been taken seriously,” he observed. He added that motorcycles can be easily disposed of, and there is “no concept of proper registration plates for motorcycles”. He said that the number of motorcycles had also drastically increased.
Most of the snatched or stolen motorcycles end up in the used spare parts markets after they are dismantled, according to sources, who add that a small number of motorcycles are taken to Bihar and other neighbouring states where they are disposed of.