Gang busted; 80 vehicles worth `3.4 cr seized

THANE: With the help of the GPS activated in a stolen pickup van, Thane police traced the thieves and seized all the 80 vehicles— 69 Mahindra pickup vans, 8 Bolero SLX, 1 Honda city, 1 Verna, 1 Breeza—and solved 105 cases of vehicle theft. The vehicle seized worth of `3.40 crore.

After stealing the vehicle, the gang would take it to a godown in Pune to change chassis number, Registeration certificate number (RC), would book and sell it in other states. The gangsters lifted 14 vehicles from Mumbai, Thane city (32), Thane rural (6 ), Navi Mumbai (14), Palghar (12), Pune city (4), Pimpri Chanchwad (3), Pune rural (6), Raigad (8), Nasik city (1), Ahmednagar (1), and 4 vehicles from Gujarat.

Rabodi police said they arrested nine interstate gangsters, including the mastermind Sandeep Lagoo, an MA in Chemistry.

Thane police had formed five teams. Police made an appeal to the owners to install a GPS system in vehicles. “The first clue we got in Dec when SI Mahesh Jadhav traced a stolen Bolero,” said DS Swami, DCP, Thane. The accused were produced in a court and were sent to police custody till Feb 14.