Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 3: A man who had returned to the city after working as policeman at Bahrain was caught by the police personnel of Madiwala station here after finding that he has been engaged in stealing high end cars here.

The arrested man is Pillakal Nazeer (56), resident of Gurappanapalya in the city.

The police have recovered a Hyundai Santa Fe car worth Rs 35 lac stolen by Nazeer from Chennai. They found that Nazeer faces nine car theft cases here, another theft case at Narol in Maharashtra and one more at Ambattur in Tamil Nadu.

Nazeer had worked as police constable at Bahrain between 1998 and 2006. After returning here, he adopted theft of cars as his full time activity. He used to visit showrooms of various car companies, wearing impressing clothes, tie and costly glasses. The sales representatives got highly impressed by his immaculate presence and extended to him maximum hospitality.

Being able to speak in English and Hindi fluently in indomitable style, hoodwinking sales representatives of car companies was child's play for Nazeer. Nazeer never set sight on cars which were priced below Rs 30 lac. Once he convinced the sales men of show rooms to hand him over car keys for test drive, he drove the cars away never to come back. He employed the same trick in stealing a car from Hyundai car plaza located at Tiruvika Industrial Area at Ekkadutangal, Chennai. As is his wont, Nazeer normally kept the car so stolen concealed for two days after the theft. Thereafter he used to change the number plate and pass through the tollgate.

Nazeer faces cases against him in registered in Basavanagudi, Madiwala, Koramangala, Ashok Nagara, Jayanagara, Mico Layout, Cubbon Park, Parappana Agrahara and Devanahalli police stations in the city. He was found to be patting himself for the way in which he was able to cheat a large number of people. Police said that he boasts that he is the most capable thief in the entire country because of the ingenuity with which he takes away costly cars. His wife too is equally shrewd, they have found. In the past, whenever police personnel kept her husband for questioning for a couple of days, his wife used to file habeas corpus petition in the high court, they explain.

The department has through investigation realized that Nazeer sold the stolen cars in Mumbai and Chennai by altering serial numbers of engines and chassis and then creating fake documents. Madiwala police have found out that the best chance to recover the vehicle from his possession was within one week, as he normally sold off the vehicle within that period. The police are now trying to nab a team of experts who were hand in glove with him in creating fake documents for selling stolen cars.