Three persons including food delivery boy arrested for bike theft; 6 bikes recovered

Police on Friday arrested three persons of a gang and recovered five stolen high-end motorcycles from them in Greater Noida.

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The suspects were identified as 25-year-old Mainpuri resident Ashwini Kumar, 24-year-old Dankaur resident Kaushlendra Nagar, and 25-year-old Rohtak (Haryana) resident Hitesh Panchal who worked as a delivery agent for Zomato, said Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

“Panchal used to wear the company’s t-shirt, enter different residential societies and pass on information to his accomplices, who then stole the motorcycles,” said Sujeet Upadhyaya, SHO Sector Beta 2 police station.

The SHO said that police team was conducting a checking drive in Sector Beta II area when they spotted Panchal and Kumar on two of these motorcycles.

“They couldn’t produce the vehicles’ registration papers. On questioning , police found that they had tampered with the registration number plates too,” he said. The two suspects then allegedly admitted to the crime and revealed the names of the rest of the gang. “They used to sell these bikes to people at cheap rates and earned easy money. We will contact Zomato in connection with the case.”

Upadhyaya said Nagar was an expert in tampering number plates.Police recovered four more motorcycles from their hideouts in Greater Noida and the vehicles were connected to five cases registered in Greater Noida.

In one case, complainant Anmol Tyagi, a resident of Migsun Green Mansion, said he had placed an ad to sell his Yamaha R15 motorcycle. “A suspect contacted me on phone and reached Greater Noida. He took my bike for a test drive and then fled the spot,” he said. Tyagi had filed a complaint in Surajpur police station on September 11, 2020.

Police have recovered three Yamaha R15, one Bajaj Pulsar, one Hero Splendor and a scooter from their possession.

“We strongly condemn this act and have suspended the delivery partner from our platform. We have also offered our complete support to the authorities in the investigation,” said a Zomato spokesperson.