It was a call made earlier to the showroom enquiring about models of Harley Davidson that did T. Kiran in.
Investigators were struggling to crack the sensational bike theft based on the not-so-clear video footage of surveillance cameras. Fake documents that Kiran had left at the showroom before taking out the bike on the pretext of a test ride were the only other clues that were also of little use.
On an input that Kiran had evinced keen interest in buying a bike from the showroom, the Banjara Hills police started analysing phone calls made to the showroom. One of the phone calls was made from a mobile phone number based in Mumbai. That was the first lead for the police suggesting that the offender could be from Mumbai. Further, they began verifying addresses of all other numbers from which calls were made to the showroom.
“All of them were available except the owner of the Mumbai-based phone. Naturally, the needle of suspicion swung towards him,” investigators told The Hindu . One of the frequently called numbers from that Mumbai phone was traced to Bhimavaram, who turned out to be a relative of Kiran, an IITian working as assistant engineer with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. “Suspicions of Kiran’s complicity were confirmed as he was not available at his Mumbai office or his residence in Hyderabad,” West zone DCP A. Venkateshwara Rao said.
A special team sent to Mumbai finally caught him along with the bike and brought him to the city on Saturday. Presenting him before the media, the DCP said the showroom employee was riding in the front on another bike when Kiran took the bike for a test ride.
The engineer gave a slip to the front rider after traversing 100 yards. Kiran headed towards Begumpet and reached Lothkunta where he withdrew some money from a bank ATM centre. He rode towards Shamirpet and entered the Outer Ring Road. He stopped by Sadashivpet in Medak and purchased a helmet before zooming to Mumbai.
