E-Paper
Six members of bike-lifting gang arrested in Purnea
Purnea Superintendent of Police (SP) Sweety Sahrawat said a sudden surge in bike-lifting incidents over the past few weeks prompted police to identify the gang behind the crimes.
An inter-district bike-lifting gang was busted with the arrest of six of its members on Wednesday in Purnea, police said.
Police said efforts were on to arrest the remaining members of the gang.
Purnea Superintendent of Police (SP) Sweety Sahrawat said a sudden surge in bike-lifting incidents over the past few weeks prompted police to identify the gang behind the crimes. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, police arrested almost all members of the gang, while the remaining accused have been identified and will be arrested soon, she said.
All the arrested members are residents of neighbouring Araria district and were active in Purnea and other districts of Bihar, the SP said.
She said the gang was busted after police scrutinised several CCTV footages and recovered four stolen motorcycles, engines of three bikes and chassis of two bikes, besides other spare parts. Police also seized six mobile phones and four master keys allegedly used to unlock the bikes, she said.
Explaining the gang’s modus operandi, the SP said the members used to target motorcycles parked in crowded areas after conducting reconnaissance for several days and would later sell the stolen bikes at garages. Two garage mechanics involved in the racket were also arrested, she said.
The arrested gang members have been identified as Raja Singh alias Raghuraj Pratap Singh (24), Neeraj Singh (20), Rohit Kumar alias Abbu Sale (22), Vijay Sah (40), Rajiv Kumar Sah (37) and Santosh Yadav (30), all residents of Araria district. Police have found several criminal cases pending against them at various police stations in Araria and Purnea districts, officials said.
