Chennai gang sells same car thrice; two culprits nabbed

CHENNAI: A gang in Chennai sold the same car thrice, stealing it back from the person it sold it to each time. The gang had duplicate keys and had fixed a GPS device to the Toyota Innova to ensure there would be no trouble tracing it.
Two of the five gangsters were nabbed on Thursday by the Kanathur police who were investigating a car theft of film producer Thanigai. He was at the police station when the two suspects were brought in based on CCTV footage and mobile phone locations. He recognised the duo as part of the gang that had sold him the vehicle. Thanigai told police that he browsed websites, chose the vehicle and contacted the seller. Five men turned up on June 7 with the car and they struck a deal for Rs 6 lakh. Police identified four of them as Sathya, Richard, Ganesan and Bharathi from Kodambakkam.
On June 10, Thanigai went to his guesthouse in Kanathur and parked the vehicle, from where it was stolen. He lodged a complaint. Police checked the CCTV footage and traced the mobile numbers operating at the scene of crime and nabbed two men. At the police station, Thanigai identified them as Ganesan and Bharathi. On interrogation, they said they first sold the car to a man called Navaneethakrishnan in Neyveli. They stole the car from him within a week using a duplicate key. Later, they sold it to a person in Vellore. After they stole it again, they sold it to Thanigai. Police said the other three had 10 cars with them.