Bike thieves arrested, 11 two-wheelers recovered

Pune: Acting on a tip-off, the Yerawada police on Saturday arrested two men and recovered 11 stolen two-wheelers worth Rs 4.5 lakh.
Assistant inspector of the Yerawada police station Madhukar Thorat said that police constables Navnath Mohite and Manoj Kudale received information that a man riding a stolen scooter would be coming to Sangamwadi. "We laid a trap and took Somnath Machhindra Honkalas (23) of Pimpri into our custody," Thorat said.
During questioning Honkalas admitted that he had stolen the scooter from Somwar Peth.Police then discovered that the scooter's owner had filed a complaint with the Samarth police station. "Further interrogation revealed Honkalas's involvement in seven other two-wheeler thefts, which we recovered," Thorat said.
Four were stolen from Pimpri and one from Vishrantwadi. "We are tracing the owners of the two motorcycles," Thorat said.
Honkalas would zero in on vehicles in parking lots. He targeted vehicles whose owners had forgotten to remove the ignition keys. "He would abandon the vehicles once they ran out of petrol," Thorat said. "Honkalas is unemployed and used to steal the bikes for joyrides," Thorat said.
Another vehicle thief, Suraj Chajed (20) of Alandi, was also arrested on a tip-off. "Chajed used to steal motorcycles from parking lots using duplicate keys," Thorat said.
Police have recovered three motorcycles from Chajed, which were stolen from Yerawada and had been sold for throwaway prices.
8 motorcycles recovered
The Bharati Vidyapeeth police arrested a 20-year-old youth at Katraj and recovered eight stolen motorcycles worth Rs 3.15 lakh from him. The suspect, Rahul Ashok Tidke of Ambegaon, used to steal the bikes for fun.
Vijaysinh Gaikwad, senior inspector, Bharati Vidyapeeth police station, said constable Ganesh Chinchkar noticed a motorcycle with a suspicious number plate and asked the rider to stop. "The rider, however, did not stop. Our team nabbed him after a chase," he said.
During questioning it was revealed that Tidke had stolen the motorcycle from Katraj area. "We have recovered seven other stolen motorcycles from him," Gaikwad added.
eom/mt
Pune : The Yerawada police on Saturday arrested two men and recovered as many as 11 stolen two-wheelers worth Rs 4.50 lakh from them.
Assistant inspector of the Yerawada police station Madhukar Thorat said that police constables Navnath Mohite and Manoj Kudale have received a tip-off that one person was using a stolen scooter and he would be coming at Sangamwadi. "We laid a trap and took the suspect Somnath Machhindra Honkalas (23) of Pimpri into our custody" Thorat said.
During the questioning the suspect Honkalas admitted that he has stolen the scooter from Somwar Peth area. The police found that the owner of the scooter had registered the case with the Samarth police station. "During the sustained interrogation, Honkalas admitted his involvement in seven more two-wheelers theft. We have recovered these vehicles," Thorat said.
Of these seven vehicles four were stolen from Pimpri and one from Vishrantwadi area. "We are tracing the owners of the two motorcycles," Thorat said.
Thorat said that the suspect Honkalas used to identify mainly the scooters, left by the owners in the parking lot without removing ignition keys. "Honkals used to steal such scooters. He used to abandoned these scooters after drying the petrol tank," Thorat said.
Thorat said that Honkalas is jobless and used to steal the scooters for joy rides. "Our probe is on," Thorat said.
Thorat said that another vehicle thief Suraj Chajed (20) of Alandi too was arrested on a tip-off. "Chajed used to steal the motorcycles from the parking lots by using duplicate keys," Thorat said.
The police have recovered three motorcycles from Chajed, which had stolen from Yerawada and area and had sold them off at throwaway prices, Thorat said.
Bharati Vidyapeeth police recovers 8 stolen motorcycles
The Bharati Vidyapeeth police have recently arrested a 20-year-old youth at Katraj and recovered eight stolen motorcycles worth Rs 3.15 lakh from him. The suspect Rahul Ashok Tidke (20) of Ambegaon used to steal the motorcycles for joy rides.
Vijaysinh Gaikwad, senior inspector of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station said that police constable Ganesh Chinchkar noticed a motorcycle with suspicious number plate and asked the rider to stop. "The rider however did not stop. Our team nabbed him after a chase," Gaikwad said.
During the questioning it revealed that the rider Tidke had stolen the motorcycle from Katraj area. "We have recovered seven more stolen motorcycles from him," Gaikwad added.