Bhayandar: The Local Crime Branch (LCB) unit of the Thane (rural) police have finally put brakes on a ring of cunning auto-lifters who replaced engine and chassis numbers of stolen cars with those of scrapped ones. The gang having links with buyers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had been operating in and around Mumbai and Thane district for the past several months.
Seven gang members including Ranjit Choudhary, Tarkeshwar Rai, Sunil Chaurasiya, Suresh Chimani, Vijay Saladi alias Raja and Bhawarlal Choudhary alias Seth have been apprehended and booked under sections 379 and 120 (b) of the IPC. The LCB team has also managed to recover eight vehicles including four Toyota Innovas and 2 Maruti Swift cars from their possession.
Alarmed by the spate of car thefts in the region, Superintendent of Police Dr Shivaji Rathod deputed the LCB team to crack the unsolved cases. While investigating the theft of a SUV from the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road, the team led by Senior Police Inspector Vyenkat Andhale and API Pramod Badhak analyzed multiple CCTV footages to identify the suspects.
On the basis of the clue, the team activated their core informer network and finally zeroed down on the accused which later led to the arrests of their accomplices including the masterminds Raja and Seth. Investigations revealed that after purchasing scrapped and accident-affected cars, the duo assigned the task of stealing a vehicle of the similar specification to their accomplices.
They then replaced the engine, chassis and registration numbers on the stolen vehicle based on the documentation procured for the scrapped one and sold them in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The accused have confessed to their involvement in more than half a dozen car theft cases. However, the investigators have not only ruled out their involvement in more such cases but are also on the lookout of their absconding accomplices.