Arrested car thief owns 2 mega hotels in Bihar

The Patna police on Tuesday arrested a car thief who allegedly built two hotels with his ill-gotten money in the state capital.

The police arrested Sonu Alam, the alleged car stealer who operated an inter-state gang of vehicle lifters, only to find out that he owned two hotels in the prime commercial localities of S.P. Verma Road and Exhibition Road in Patna.

During his interrogation, Sonu confessed to his involvement in the theft of 50 to 60 vehicles, including SUVs and luxury cars, and said that he used to invest his money in his hotel business.

Sonu is said to be the owner of Mega Palace and New Mega Palace hotels. A resident of Phulwari on the outskirts of Patna, Sonu was an expert in unlocking cars.

Superintendent of Police (city) Shivdeep Waman Lande said that Sonu used to steal vehicles along with his accomplices and sell them off in Nepal and northeast.

"We are investigating as to which routes he used to take to sell off the stolen vehicles," he said. The district police have sent various teams to different places where he had sold the vehicles.

On October 2, an SUV belonging to Rajendra Prasad from Ram Krishna Nagar locality was stolen from his house at night. A CCTV camera footage, however, caught the entire operation in which Sonu was involved. The police subsequently tracked him and took him under arrest.

During interrogation, Sonu confessed that he had stolen the vehicle and sold it to a buyer in Nepal. He also told the police that more than a dozen persons were members of his gang who used to stay at his hotels.

The police are also investigating whether Sonu had also invested his money in the real estate business in which his brothers are involved. Sources said Sonu pumped the money, from selling the stolen vehicles, into the real estate businesses of his brothers.