Gang of car thieves busted, 8 arrested

An inter-state gang of car thieves was busted by police in Thane district of Maharashtra and seven people were arrested, an official said Wednesday.

Eight cars collectively valued at Rs 1.2 crore were also seized from their possession, he said.

Two of the accused were scrap dealers who used to inform other gang members about the model, colour and other specifications of the scrap cars bought by them, assistant police inspector Pramod Badak said.

The other gang members stole cars having good condition from different places and sent them to the two scrap dealers, he said.

The scrap dealers would then change the engine, chassis and registration numbers of the stolen vehicles to that of the scrap cars. They would then sell the stolen cars in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

Acting on car theft cases reported in various police stations, the Thane rural police launched a probe and nabbed the eight accused from different places in the last four-five days, Badak said.

The accused were identified as Ranjit Kapildeo Chowhdari, Tarkeshwar Harishchandra Rai, Sunil Ramdeo Chourasia, Suresh Venkatasubbiah Chimani, Raja alias Vijay Rajkumar Veknatramana Saladi, Bhavarlal Lal alias Sheth Khangarji Garia Choudhari and Chandru Srinivas alias Chandru Srinu Satyanarayan Choudhari.

They were booked under relevant sections, he said, adding that a probe was underway.