WhatsApp chat lands bike lifters in police net

A conversation on WhatsApp with his accomplice, proved to be the undoing of a 19-year-old youth who landed into the custody of the Bhayandar police on Thursday, for his involvement in bike theft cases in the region.

Identified as Ronak Mehta (19), the accused who is a resident of Bhayandar (west) targeted only top-end sports bikes in the city which he handed over to his Surat-based accomplice Jaimesh Bhansali (19) for disposal.

While two high end KTM Duke bikes valued more than Rs 3 lakh have been recovered from Surat, the duo have been remanded to custody after they were produced before the District Session Court, Thane.

Not ruling out the duo’s involvement in more bike lifting cases in and around the region, Sr. PI Rajendra Kamble, said, “One of the bike owner suspected his ex-employee Ronak’s involvement into the theft. When questioned he feigned ignorance, however, we

The accused targeted only high-end sports bikes in the city which he handed over to his Surat-based accomplice for disposal

chanced upon a WhatsApp conversation between the duo in which they had openly discussed about changing number plates of the stolen bikes.”

Realising that he had been cornered, Ronak confessed to the crime. Further investigations revealed that, Ronak who worked as a video gaming console technician misused used his expertise to make duplicates of the code-powered keys.

Based on the information provided by Ronak, a police team apprehended Jaimesh and also recovered both the stolen bikes from Surat. A case under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the duo. PSI- Sunil Baghal is conducting further investigations into the case.