Six-member gang stealing defunct vehicles nabbed

KOCHI: They ran a 24-hour eatery at Thiruvankulam near Tripunithura. However, it was not their real business. They used to roam in a car in the early hours in the area to spot defunct and repaired vehicles parked on roadsides and tow them away using their car. Their associates then break the vehicle up at a workshop run by one of them and sold its parts as scrap. This was the modus operandi of a gang that was busted by the Panangad police recently for vehicle theft.

Mohammad Ashraf, 43, of Badiyadka in Kasaragod; Ratheesh, 40, of Thalakalathoor in Kozhikode; Noufal, 44, of Vaikom; Shihabudheen, 35, of Kanjiramattam; Shabeeb, 43, of  Thalayolaparambu; and Marimuthu, 57, a native of Thenkasi and currently residing at Vaikom, were nabbed. The vehicles with snags parked on roadsides and repaired vehicles parked near workshops were their targets, said the police.
Of the accused, Mohammed Ashraf and Ratheesh were running an eatery named ‘AG Chayis and Tea Break’ at Thiruvankulam.

They used to roam in Ashraf’s car and spot the vehicles parked on the roadside. Then, they stole the vehicles after towing them away using the car. The stolen vehicle was then broken up at Shabeeb’s workshop. They then transport the vehicle parts on a mini lorry to the scrap shop run by Marimuthu and Noufal at Appanchira near Thalayolaparambu and sold as scrap items. An inquiry into the theft of a car owned by a Madavana native led to the arrest of the gang. The car was parked near the Kumbalam toll plaza area after getting repaired.

The gang lifted cars from Vyttila and Cherthala using this modus operandi, said the police. They came under the notice of police several times when towing the vehicles away but they escaped citing that they were doing this to avoid traffic congestion at night.

The key accused, Ashraf, was arrested after  City Police Commissioner C H Nagaraju received a tip-off that he was staying in a hideout at Sultan Bathery in Wayanad. On interrogation, the police got the details of other accused and all were arrested.

MODUS OPERANDI
Of the accused, Mohammed Ashraf and Ratheesh were running an eatery named ‘AG Chayis and Tea Break’ at Thiruvankulam. They used to roam in Ashraf’s car and spot the vehicles parked on the roadside. Then, they stole the vehicles after towing them away.