Thane crime branch arrest 2 for motorcycle theft, recover 7 stolen motorcycles

The Wagle Estate 5 Unit of the Thane crime branch Friday arrested two people for motorcycle theft and recovered seven motorcycles from them.

The police said the seven brand new motorcycles were robbed from showrooms directly. The police said with no number plate or registration, the accused were about to sell it at half or cheaper rates.

"As they were robbed from Panvel, the accused came to sell the stolen items in Thane so that they could not get caught," said a police officer.

The police said that on March 16 at 11 am, officials from the Wagle Estate Unit of the Thane crime branch received information about two accused selling stolen motorcycles at cheap rates near the Shastri Nagar area in Thane. Accordingly, a trap was laid by the police during which they arrested two people who came for the deal.

The police said the arrested accused were identified as Kiran Bhalekar and Mayur Anant Patil, both residents of Panvel in Raigad district.

Vikas Ghodke, senior police inspector, Wagle Estate Unit 5 confirmed the arrest and said, "We have seized seven motorcycles from the two accused calculating a total cost of around Rs 4.25 lakhs. The accused claim to have robbed and committed the theft in-between 2018 to 2021." "Most of the motorcycles were robbed from Panvel and Khandeshwar areas," added Ghodke.

The police team during the investigation found out that four cases of stolen motorcycles were also registered with Panvel city police station and Khandeshwar police station. "We have handed over seven motorcycles to the Panvel City police station who are further investigating the matter," Ghodke said.