Cops arrest teen bike thief; unearth 12 unsolved cases

They have seized all 13 motorcycles from him including four costly Royal Enfield motorcycles collectively valued at ₹16 lakh.

Kalyan: The arrest of a 19-year-old youth for stealing a Royal Enfield motorcycle has unearthed 12 other bike theft cases in Thane. They have seized all 13 motorcycles from him including four costly Royal Enfield motorcycles collectively valued at ₹16 lakh.

As per police sources, his modus operandi was to break the handle-lock of parked motorbikes, and ride them over 500 kilometres away to his native place in Nilanga in Latur district, Marathwada, and sell them to unsuspecting customers in Latur, Solapur, and Pune. (HT PHOTO)

The accused – identified as Shubham Bhaskar – was arrested on January 20 from Kalyan in connection with a theft case in Dombivli.

Kishor Shirsat of the Kalyan crime branch said, “We received information about the accused who committed the theft of a bullet in Dombivli. We went through CCTV footage and found him suspiciously moving around in Dombivli and detained him from the area.”

During interrogation, he confessed to his crime, he said, adding, “We lodged a case at Mahatma Phule police station and produced him in court which remanded him in four days of police custody.”

In custody, he revealed that he had stolen 12 other motorcycles across the Kalyan-Dombivli-Bhiwandi jurisdiction in the last two years. As per police sources, his modus operandi was to break the handle-lock of parked motorbikes, and ride them over 500 kilometres away to his native place in Nilanga in Latur district, Marathwada, and sell them to unsuspecting customers in Latur, Solapur, and Pune.

Police sources said he was unemployed and lived with his parents. Out of 13 theft cases registered against him, five are at Mahatma Phule police station in Kalyan, two at Dombivli police station, two at Vishnunagar police station in Dombivli, two cases at Kongaon police station in Bhiwandi, and one each at Kolsewadi police station in Kalyan, and Kalyan railway police station.