Mumbai Police bust inter-state gang involved in theft, resale of heavy vehicles

In a major breakthrough, the Vanrai Police in Mumbai have busted an inter-state gang involved in the theft and resale of heavy vehicles and recovered six stolen trucks worth Rs 1.8 crore from various districts of Rajasthan.

According to police sources, the case came to light on June 8, when a 10-wheeler Tata truck was stolen from a cement godown in the Goregaon (East) area of Mumbai around 1 am. A case was immediately registered at Vanrai Police Station under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Acting on technical intelligence and with assistance from Zankhvav Police in Surat Rural, Gujarat, the cops from Mumbai arrested Narsing Ramswaroop Singh, 44, a resident of Mechanic Nagar, Indore, along with the stolen truck.

His interrogation led to the arrest of Javed Abdullah Shaikh, 54, the alleged mastermind of the gang, from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra.

During further investigation, it was discovered that Shaikh allegedly has multiple criminal cases, including of cheating, forgery, and vehicle theft, registered against him in Ahmednagar, Nashik, Dhule, Aurangabad, and Navi Mumbai cities of Maharashtra.

Modus operandi

As per investigators, the accused would transport the stolen trucks to Gujarat, where they removed the original engine and chassis numbers and replaced them with those from smaller transport vehicles. A local garage owner reportedly charged Rs 50,000 per truck for the tampering.

After altering the identification numbers, the accused would prepare forged registration documents from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and sell the trucks to unsuspecting buyers at low prices, said a police officer.

Shockingly, the gang went a step further by arranging bank loans for the buyers using the fake documents, making the transactions appear completely legitimate, the officer added.

Police action

Under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 12) Mahesh Chimte and Inspector Subhashchandra Posture, a special team led by Sub-inspectors Ranjit Vanve and Abhijit Bhise, along with their detection team, was dispatched to Rajasthan. Acting swiftly, the team successfully traced and recovered six stolen heavy vehicles from Banswara, Dungarpur, and Salumber districts, stated Senior Inspector Girish Bane from Vanrai Police Station.

“Investigation is on to trace more vehicles and identify the other individuals involved in this well-organised racket, Bane added.

Source