In an interesting breakthrough, the Parassala police have managed to trace and recover a Rs.20-lakh lorry that went missing from near a petrol bunk at Parasuveykal about 10 months ago, but in a completely modified shape.
According to N. Jayakumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Neyyattinkara, it was the arrest of a Marthandam-based notorious inter-State vehicle thief, Imba Raj, that helped the police crack the case.
Imba Raj, with several vehicle theft cases registered against him in Tamil Nadu, had allegedly stolen the Taurus lorry and sold it to a man in Salem at a mere Rs.2 lakh. Parassala Circle Inspector S. Chandrakumar and sub-inspector Biju reached Salem last week to find that the buyer had spent another Rs.3 lakh and converted the lorry, making it a double chassis vehicle, with a bore-well rig mounted on it. The lorry had a new registration certificate (RC) book with a Karnataka registration, instead of its original Tamil Nadu plates, and even new chassis numbers, Mr. Jayakumar said.
Chinna Raj, an accomplice of Imba Raj, was also arrested on Saturday. Both were remanded in judicial custody.
