Cops arrest 2 for swapping old bikes with stolen ‘new’ models, recover 25 bikes
25 bikes have been recovered from the duo so far (Representational Image, Courtesy: impremedia.net)
Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested two men who allegedly stole new two-wheelers and swapped them with older models for a commission.
According to officials, interested customers would approach the duo with their old bikes, following which the accused would start scouting for newer models of the same two-wheeler and steal them.
They would later replace the registration and chassis of the newer bike with the older one and hand it over to the owner of the old two-wheeler in exchange for a fee.
Meanwhile, the newer bike would be fitted with the registration and chassis of the older bike and sold off separately.
The accused, Sahil Ganja (31) and Arif Khan (28), were arrested on Wednesday. So far, police have managed to recover 25 bikes from the duo, although more are likely to be recovered.
The duo would charge around Rs 25,000 to replace older bikes with newer models. The fee was higher in case of expensive two-wheelers.
“The accused would steal the (new) bike, change the chassis and registration number and give it to the client as the newer bike. The clients were not aware that the ‘newer’ bike was a stolen one,” an officer from Crime Branch Unit 9 told The Indian Express.
After sending the buyer home with the ‘new’ bike, the older bike would be sold off.
“Based on their interrogation, we have recovered 25 stolen bikes. We are looking for some more gang members whose arrests will help us recover some more stolen bikes,” the officer added.
The duo are believed to have been active for over a year.
