He stole scooters to maintain two wives

Bengaluru: A coolie by profession and breadwinner for his two families, 32-year-old Murali Ramrao had taken to stealing bikes to make ends meet before he was caught trying to steal a Honda Dio from a hotel opposite Mantri Mall on July 5.
“He had an interesting modus operandi. Whenever he visited one of his two wives, he went by a BMTC bus and, while coming back, he used to steal a bike,“ said the police.“He repeated the act as often as possible whenever he visited his wives. Murali had managed to steal and sell over 25 bikes from different areas in the city. He had made stealing bikes his second profession,“ the police added.
Murali operated on his own and had no partners, according to Sheshadripuram police who seized 25 vehicles worth around Rs15 lakh from him. “When we arrested Murali, he confessed to stealing bikes and said that he did it because he had no other way of earning money. He said he had to look after two families as he is married to two women. When his wives questioned him about the bikes, he always said that they belonged to his friends. He was also given to racing and gambling which didn't help his situation.“ With Murali's arrest, the police have cracked five cases registered in Sheshadripuram, five in Malleshwaram, four in Vyalikaval and one case each in High Grounds, Wilson Garden, Kalasipalya, Halasuru, JP Nagar, Upparpet, Cottonpet and Jeevan Bima Nagar.“Murali went to different areas, used a duplicate key to unlock the vehicles and drove them to his house. He would then lend the bike to his friends and later sell them. We have registered a case under section 379 (punishment of theft) of IPC,“ said the police.