In a major development, Jamshedpur police busted two inter-State gangs of bike lifters by arresting eight people and recovering 14 stolen bikes from Bankura district in West Bengal, Patna and from the city during the past 24 hours.
Those arrested have been identified as Avinash Kumar, Govinda Dey, Bhola Mahato, Nihar Ranjan Das, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Mahadev Tantubai, Mohammed Asraf and Akhilesh Kumar Shao.
Senior SP, Anoop T Mathew said that a gang of three bike lifters was busted on Sunday morning while they were trying to steal a bike from ECC flat area.
"They were trying to steal the bike from the ECC flat premises, some local youths raised alarm. After holding them up, the youths checked their trouser pockets and found more than one master keys. The local youths informed the police," said Mathew.
The senior SP said that during the interrogation, Govinda (32) who was leading the gang confessed that they would steal bikes and from residential areas and marketplaces in the city and would sell them to people living in the rural areas of Bengal.
"Govinda who stays at Telco area of the city confessed to have stolen 10 bikes during the past 15 days and to have sold the stolen bikes at throw away prices to people living in Bankura district of Bengal. At the instance of Govinda, we sent a team of police officer to Bankura and recovered the eight stolen bikes from as many people," said Mathew while talking to newsmen today. He said during the raids at Bankura they picked up two buyers, namely Mahadev Tantubai and Nihar Ranjan Das from Bankura with the stolen bikes that they had bought from the gang run by Govinda.
Mathew further said the police succeeded to bust another gang bike-lifters as they conducted a surprise checking on the road in front of ADl Sunshine School at Sakchi on Sunday evening. During the checking a youth, Akhilesh Kumar Shao was nabbed with a stolen bike.
The senior SP pointed out that the gang led by Akhilesh had a fortnight ago picked up a bike worth Rs 1.5 lakh from Sakchi and sold it for Rs 14,000 at Patna to a man identified as Sanjay Kumar Singh. He informed that the buyer of the stolen bike Sanjay has also been arrested.
A senior officer said that the police administration is concerned over the situation and have taken measures like night patrolling and installation of barricades where police officials keep strict vigilance.
“We have formed teams that monitor different police stations. Moreover, night vigil has also been increased we suspect some inter-state gang is involved in the menace. We have also detained suspected youths and are interrogating them,” said the officer.
“The prices of the motor vehicles have shot up this is one of the many reasons that led to the rising cases of thefts. We have also found during our investigation that the stolen vehicles are dismantled and their parts are sold off as spare parts or built into new vehicle. Several gangs from West Bengal and Bihar are also involved in it,” said a senior police officer.