The Central Division police have busted a gang that used to steal vehicles, replace the engine and chassis numbers with that of scrapped automobiles and sell them using forged documents.
The racket came to light when Ashoknagar police flagged down 32-year-old Moin Ahmed, owner of a junk shop in Shivajinagar, who was moving suspiciously in a car on Residency Road on Monday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Sandeep Patil said that Moin would pass on details of vehicles, including chassis number, registration number and make, to his accomplice in Mysuru, Ansar Pasha, who is a habitual car thief.
Ansar would steal a car of a similar make from in and around Mysuru and change the chassis number, engine number and create forged documents with the help of his associates Suhail Shariff and Nadeem Ahmed.
The car would then be sold to gullible customers either in Bengaluru or Mysuru, Mr. Patil said.
Based on information provided by Moin, police have recovered 10 stolen cars worth Rs 60 lakh, which they had sold to various persons.
The police have arrested Suhail and Nadeem while Ansar is still at large. Moin’s arrest and his modus operandi have raised red flags for the police. “It is a dangerous trend… if these cars are sold to anti-social elements or terrorists, tracking such vehicles will be next to impossible,” a senior police officer told The Hindu .
