The Madurai Rural Police on Thursday arrested a person who allegedly bought and sold stolen cars from neighbouring Kerala. Spares from four dismantled vehicles were seized from the accused.
A police team from Avaniapuram, a suburban station, found chassis, engines and other accessories of different car models at a workshop at Kovalan Nagar. A worker at the spot, identified as Rajendran of Jaihindpuram, told them that the spares were from vehicles involved in accidents and that he had purchased them from a broker in Kerala. He could not give details on documents of vehicles such as registration and insurance certificates.
Investigations revealed that the stolen vehicles were received from Salu Varghese of Kannur, Kerala.
Superintendent of Police (Madurai Rural) M. Manohar said that a case under Section 102 of Cr. P.C (unclaimed property) was registered. "We have a strong suspicion that the accused may be a part of an inter-State gang which indulged in stealing vehicles in one State and selling them in some neighbouring State. A case of vehicle missing has been registered by Kannur Town Police. A special police team from Kerala is likely to come in a day or two for interrogation of the accused," he added.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Thiruparankundram) A. Mayilvahanan said that the modus operandi of the accused was to buy stolen vehicles from other States and, after dismantling, the spares were sold in the market through brokers. Inspector of Police (Avaniapuram) S. Govindaraj said that they were interrogating a couple of suspects.
Police said that vehicles reported missing in Tamil Nadu might have been driven to neighbouring States with duplicate registration number plates and in a similar modus operandi they would have been dismantled and the spares sold.
