Belagavi: A notorious gang involved in stealing cars and selling them was caught by the Belagavi police and 37 stolen cars were recovered from them on Monday. Police Inspector of City Crime Investigation Branch B.R. Gaddekar said that all the cars were stolen from Goa over the last three months and were sold in Belagavi city.
The estimated cost of the 37 seized cars is Rs 2.70 crore. Most of them are new Innovas, Scorpios and Swifts and are in good condition. The arrested have been identified as Navid Khatib from Ravivar Pet, Belagavi and Parashuram Kumbar from Muddebihal. They had sold most of the cars to the people in Belagavi and surrounding areas.
They coordinated with some people in Goa who are yet to be traced and lifted the vehicles from parking lots. The thieves drove them to Belagavi city the same day. They knew of all the localities in Goa from where they could lift cars easily, the police said.
They also managed to get fake documents of stolen vehicles done at Regional Tranport Offices, both in Goa and Belagavi before selling them. The police are yet to investigate how the gang managed to coordinate with officials of RTO to get the fake papers done.
If they could not get fake papers, they would rent out the cars on long leases stretching up to five years for cheaper rentals. Some cars were given out for five years for just Rs 1 lakh. But most of the cars were sold for Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The police have been able to recover all the cars after getting information from the gang.
To get higher rates for the stolen cars, the gang got the vehicles repaired and serviced at local garages. The police are still investigating as to why the gang targeted Goa-registration vehicles and have been in touch with the Goa police to find out whether more such gangs from Belagavi operating in the coastal state.
