Police unearth inter-state car theft racket, 3 arrested

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

Three people, including a notorious car thief, were arrested by the Pulikeshi Nagar police station for allegedly selling stolen cars by using fake registration number plates in the city.

The accused were identified by the police as Jabir Sharief, 30, a resident of KG Halli; Manish, 33, a resident of Vasanth Nagar and Imam, 23, a Maruthi Nagar resident. The police claimed to have recovered 16 cars worth Rs 5 crore from them.

Among the three people arrested, Sharief was found to be a habitual offender, and the other two had been acting as dealers, police said. The arrest was made based on a complaint filed by a city resident who had reportedly sold his Innova car to Sharief and his friends.

However, later, the complainant found that the car had been sold to someone else after changing its registration number plate. Taking the matter seriously, a special team was formed to nab the accused under the direction of Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Dr Bheemashankar S Guled and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Pulikeshi Nagar, Abdul Khadar.

Following the arrest, the police claimed to have detected four vehicle theft cases filed against Sharief at a police station in New Delhi. “The accused were involved in selling secondhand as well as stolen cars after changing their registration numbers and documents,” a police officer said.