Hyderabad: The Central Zone Task Force apprehended a gang on charges of tampering with bike engines and chassis numbers before selling them. Officials seized 17 vehicles from their possession on Wednesday. Those apprehended were identified as Hitesh Patel, 32, a bike broker, Michal Modi, 45, a mechanic, Hakeem Abu Naser, 30, another mechanic, Vittal Rao, 49, an employee of the RTA from Kothapet, and Mohd Arif, 26.
Officials seized 15 Royal Enfield 350 cc motorcycles, two Yamaha 350 cc motorcycles, the registration papers of 25 bikes, and the tools needed to tamper with the chassis and engine numbers of bikes from their possession.
“Hitesh would purchase each bike for around Rs 28,000 and sell it for Rs 35,000 without documents. If a buyer wanted documents, he would charge an additional Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 to arrange for the registration papers. He would manage to get the papers through A. Vittal Rao, who has been working for the RTA for the past 32 years,” said P. Radhakishan Rao, deputy commissioner of police.
The accused were handed over to the Bowenpally and Gandhinagar police for further investigation.
