The Crime Branch (unit one) of Navi Mumbai police arrested three persons and busted a racket who used to steal only high-end Royal Enfield motorbikes. Police also recovered 44 Royal Enfield motorbikes worth Rs 1 crore from them.
Police also claimed to have solved a total of 64 cases of theft of Royal Enfield motorbikes which had been reported across different police stations in Maharashtra and Goa.
Police said that from September 2020 to January 2021, the racket of stealing motorbikes was reported from Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune Rural and Goa. They used to target new model of Royal Enfield motorbikes, said police.
FPJ Correspondent
Bipin Kumar Singh, commissioner of police, Navi Mumbai said that they used to target new model of Bullet bikes. "They used to connect a separate ignition spare part to unlock the motorbike," said Singh. He added the whole process in installing a separate part used to hardly take five minutes and then to unlock the motorbike and drive away. "I will write to the motorbike company to make some changes in the ignition part and make it difficult to unlock," said Singh.
The arrested accused identified as Sohail Shaikh, 28, a real estate agent and resident of Mumbra, Sourabh Karanje, 23, a student and resident of Vikroli in Mumbai and Amol Dhoble, a resident of Pantnagar in Ghatkopar in Mumbai.
FPJ Correspondent
While Sheikh and Karanje were arrested from sector 17 in Vashi on January 22, Dhoble was arrested from his Mumbai residence on January 23.
Singh said that Dhoble was the main accused and he was involved in other vehicle theft cases. "A total of 64 cases of Bullet motorbike theft have been solved, and we are expecting to recover more motorbikes," he said. He added that one more accused is involved in the racket.
Police said that they used to make fake RC and insurance papers and lured buyers by claiming themselves as bank recovery agents. "They used to sell Rs 2 lakh motorbike at just Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000," said police.
