ITANAGAR, 26 Oct: The capital police have busted a gang of interstate bike lifters and recovered eight two-wheelers from their possession.
ICR SP Jimmy Chiram informed that his men made the breakthrough during surprise motor vehicle checks in and around the ICR, during which two miscreants, identified as Habijul Ali and Ekramul, tried to flee from the naka at the Dikrong check gate. Chiram said that the duo, both natives of Lakhimpur, Assam, was arrested after a brief chase, and that they later admitted to having lifted the FZ motorcycle they were riding from Damsite in Naharlagun.
“During the course of the investigation, it came to light that both Habijul and Ekramul are habitual offenders with around 10 cases of vehicle theft registered against them at
Naharlagun, Laluk and Bihpuria police stations. Both of them met at July jail and decided to commit theft together once they got out. After getting out of the jail, Habijul came to Naharlagun and met Ekramul and they have stolen around eight motorcycles together from the Itanagar capital region,” the SP said.
Revealing the thieves’ modus operandi, Chiram said that, after stealing bikes from the ICR, the lifters would WhatsApp the bike’s engine and chassis numbers to their contacts in Bangalmara to create fake registration certificates. Then, with the help of the fake certificates, the miscreants would smuggle the stolen vehicles to Assam and sell them to one Eliyash Uddin aka Eli Ali, of Bangalmara for Rs 10,000 to 15,000.
Eliyash, in turn, would sell the vehicles to other customers in Assam, the SP added.
With the arrest of the lifters and the recovery of vehicles, the capital police have also uncovered an interstate racket involving fake registration certificates, driving licenses and inner line permits.
While the three accused are lodged at the Naharlagun police station, the police have spread their net to arrest another accused, Mafidul Islam.
