The South-East Division police arrested 17 persons and recovered valuables worth over Rs. 2 crore, and said they have solved several cases of theft and burglary.
The biggest catch was 52-year-old A. Palaraju from Rajapalyam in Virudhanagar district in Tamil Nadu from whom the Hulimavu police recovered eight four-wheelers including cars and sports utility vehicles worth Rs. 50 lakh.
Police said Palaraju along with his absconding accomplices Manikantha alias Mani, Alexander alias Alex and Muragan, used to steal vehicles in Bangalore, replace their engine and chassis numbers and change the registration plates with that of either Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. These vehicles were then sold in different parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, police said.
Held for carjacking
The Airport Police arrested Deepak and Hemanth for carjacking and seized a multi-utility vehicle worth Rs. 9 lakh, a car worth Rs. 6 lakh that was used to commit a robbery and a scooter worth Rs. 40,000 from them.
The police also took into custody two adolescents allegedly involved in the crime.
The two men had booked the MUV through a Marathalli travel agency for a trip to Challaghatta.
Three of the accused got into the vehicle driven by agency driver Gopinath. On reaching Panattur, two more accused who came in a car overpowered the driver and took away the MUV, police said.
Chain snatching
The Koramangala Police arrested four men on charges of chain snatching and theft and recovered jewellery and electronic items worth Rs. 6 lakh.
Rizwan alias Thurki, Riyaz Khan alias Riyaz, Mohammed Hussain and Asgar were arrested from a vacant site near Edaneeru Math.
The Madiwala Police arrested four persons on charges of chain snatching and vehicle theft and recovered jewellery and two motorcycles wheeler worth Rs. 4.5 lakh.
Police gave their names as Pandian (22), resident of Maruthinagar, Madiwala; Anwar (23), resident of New Gurappanapalya; Samiulla (21), Arakere Gate and Suhail (19), resident of Ejipura.
With their arrest 13 chain snatching cases and two motorcycle theft cases have been solved, the police claimed.