Nagpur: The lure of making a fast buck drove 24-year-old Lalit Bhoge to steal motorbikes. He used to pose as a second-hand two-wheeler dealer and sell the stolen bikes at a throwaway price to those from the economically poor background. After having a free run and selling 111 stolen bikes across Vidarbha over the last two years, Bhoge ran out of luck when Nagpur city crime branch sleuths arrested him last week.
Bhoge has no criminal past, but the police found a pattern of stolen bikes being sold to gullible buyers “by a man in his early 20s who introduced himself as a second-hand two-wheeler dealer” not just in the city but from across Vidarbha.Over the last one month, the police from across the region recovered 111 stolen two-wheelers.
Bhoge faces 85 offences of bike thefts in 10 districts of Vidarbha (Nagpur city 28, Nagpur rural 21, five each in Amravati rural and city, Chandrapur four, Yavatmal eight, Wardha nine, Bhandara three and one each in Gondia and Gadchiroli.
Having failed to make money first as a driver and then as a second-hand vehicle dealer, Bhoge took to stealing bikes. His finances weakened due to his wife’s ill-health and his own treatment after an accident. Bhoge’s addiction to liquor, partying, and new clothes only aggravated his financial woes and he continued with his exploits.
Crime branch sources said that Bhoge’s addiction to liquor led to his downfall. While scrutinising CCTV footage of places from where bike thefts were reported in the city, the cops tracked him entering a liquor bar where he had made UPI payment. The police traced the cellphone number and gathered more clues from cyber experts including his address at Kondhali in Nagpur rural.
Commissioner of police Ravinder Singal — flanked by Joint CP Aswati Dorje, Additional CP Sanjay Patil, DCP Nimit Goyal and ACP Abhijeet Patil — during his maiden press briefing after taking charge last week, said 10 cases of bike thefts in the city daily perturbed him. “Apart from solving the cases, we launched a crackdown on crimes like bike thefts in the city,” said Singal.
“We are analysing the modus operandi of bike thieves, the hotspots and the pattern they follow,” he said and added that Bhoge stole bikes from parking lots or those carelessly left behind by the two-wheeler owners.
Sub-inspector Anil Ingoley’s team, comprising head constables Vilas Kokate, Deepak Rithe and others, recovered 20 bikes from Bhoge’s Kondhali residence. About his modus operandi, Ingoley said, “Bhoge would travel by bus to the city and targeted marketplaces like Wadi, Sitabuldi, Dhantoli. He would first try to start the bike with duplicate keys or break the handle lock with force before fleeing with the vehicle. He would convince his customers to take the bikes for Rs 15,000-20,000 promising to hand over them the registration documents later.”
Bhoge has no criminal past, but the police found a pattern of stolen bikes being sold to gullible buyers “by a man in his early 20s who introduced himself as a second-hand two-wheeler dealer” not just in the city but from across Vidarbha.Over the last one month, the police from across the region recovered 111 stolen two-wheelers.
Bhoge faces 85 offences of bike thefts in 10 districts of Vidarbha (Nagpur city 28, Nagpur rural 21, five each in Amravati rural and city, Chandrapur four, Yavatmal eight, Wardha nine, Bhandara three and one each in Gondia and Gadchiroli.
Having failed to make money first as a driver and then as a second-hand vehicle dealer, Bhoge took to stealing bikes. His finances weakened due to his wife’s ill-health and his own treatment after an accident. Bhoge’s addiction to liquor, partying, and new clothes only aggravated his financial woes and he continued with his exploits.
Crime branch sources said that Bhoge’s addiction to liquor led to his downfall. While scrutinising CCTV footage of places from where bike thefts were reported in the city, the cops tracked him entering a liquor bar where he had made UPI payment. The police traced the cellphone number and gathered more clues from cyber experts including his address at Kondhali in Nagpur rural.
Commissioner of police Ravinder Singal — flanked by Joint CP Aswati Dorje, Additional CP Sanjay Patil, DCP Nimit Goyal and ACP Abhijeet Patil — during his maiden press briefing after taking charge last week, said 10 cases of bike thefts in the city daily perturbed him. “Apart from solving the cases, we launched a crackdown on crimes like bike thefts in the city,” said Singal.
“We are analysing the modus operandi of bike thieves, the hotspots and the pattern they follow,” he said and added that Bhoge stole bikes from parking lots or those carelessly left behind by the two-wheeler owners.
Sub-inspector Anil Ingoley’s team, comprising head constables Vilas Kokate, Deepak Rithe and others, recovered 20 bikes from Bhoge’s Kondhali residence. About his modus operandi, Ingoley said, “Bhoge would travel by bus to the city and targeted marketplaces like Wadi, Sitabuldi, Dhantoli. He would first try to start the bike with duplicate keys or break the handle lock with force before fleeing with the vehicle. He would convince his customers to take the bikes for Rs 15,000-20,000 promising to hand over them the registration documents later.”