BELagavi
In a major breakthrough, Belagavi police on Monday arrested two members of an inter-state gang linked to a series of car thefts in Goa and seized 37 cars and jeeps, valued at over Rs 2.7 crore, which were stolen from Goa.
Police said the gang had also managed to get fake documents of the stolen vehicles done from the Regional Transport Offices in Goa and Belagavi, before keeping the vehicles ready for sale in Belagavi.
According to Police Inspector of City Crime Investigation Branch BR Gaddekar, all the cars were stolen from Goa and taken to Belagavi city for sale in the last three months.
The estimated cost of all the 37 seized cars is Rs 2.7 crore. Most of the stolen cars are Innova, Scorpio and Swift, which were bought by their owners in recent times in Goa and were in good condition. The arrested gang members were identified as Navid Khatib and Parshuram Kumbar, both from Belagavi.
Kumbar from Muddebihal had sold most of the cars to people in Belagavi and surrounding regions.
According to CPI Gaddekar, the gang was coordinating with some unidentified persons in Goa and managed to lift the vehicles from the parking lots there before taking it to Belagavi the same day. Both the accused are familiar with all localities in Goa from where they could easily lift the cars.
Police said the gang also managed to get fake documents of stolen vehicles done from Regional Transport Offices in Goa and Belagavi before keeping the vehicles ready for sale in Belagavi, adding that the vehicle registration papers carried the signatures and seals of the RTO officials concerned.
The police officials are now investigating if the signatures and seals of RTO officials were authentic or fake. If authentic, the police would want to ascertain any possible links between the gang and RTO officials concerned. According to the police, the gang was also renting the stolen cars at a throw-away rentals. Most of the stolen cars had been sold at cheaper rates ranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.
The police said they have managed to recover all the cars on the information provided by the gang.
The gang also managed to sell high-end models at a higher price after refurbishing it locally.
“We are in coordination with Goa Police as to how and why the gang was stealing Goa-registered cars. Apart from the duo, we are also in the process of establishing the possible nexus between the gangs in Goa and Belagavi, without which the car thefts would not have been possible,” CPI Gaddekar said.
