Cops bust online two-wheeler theft racket, 2 fraudsters held
Times of India | 5 November 2024
123 Kolkata: After a four-month probe, Cossipore police have arrested two residents of Jagaddal, Md Nasim and Shams Raza, who allegedly used to look for online ads of used two-wheelers on sale, contact the seller and wanted to take test rides. Then they used to decamp with the vehicle. They would then change the chassis and registration number before selling these stolen bikes online again.
They were arrested on Oct 27 from Kankinara railway station.
It started with the theft of a scooterette. On July 24, a 42-year-old resident of South Dum Dum reported that his two-wheeler was stolen by a man posing as a buyer. The complainant had posted an ad on an online platform offering his two-wheeler for sale.
After going through leads, cops arrested Nasim and Raza. Following the interrogation, the stolen two-wheeler was recovered from an abandoned location in front of Bhatpara Mokamtala Ghat.
Police also recovered a couple of stolen two-wheelers from them.
It was during this recovery that investigators realised that the accused regularly responded to advertisements on various online platforms and pose as customers. They would then flee with the two-wheelers on the pretext of taking them for test rides.
"They would then replace the registration number plates with fictitious number plates and re-sell the vehicles on online platforms. Both have been remanded to police custody and then to judicial custody. An investigation is underway to find if they had an accomplice ," said a cop.