4 arrested in a car theft racket bust

A carefully planned car theft racket was busted in Kolkata today evening, with the North-24 Parganas police arresting four people, and recovering eight stolen cars parked in a garage in Baguiati area in north Kolkata. The racket, supposed to be an inter-state one, has been operational in the city for quite some time now, with the masterminds targeting high-end, luxury cars. The police are on the lookout for more people involved in the racket.

With increasing complaints of car theft being registered in various north Kolkata police stations over the past few weeks, a team of alert policemen launched a drive to nab the thieves. They found out that from several garages in the Baguiati and Rajarhat areas of Kolkata, several second-hand luxury cars were being sold at cheap rates.

During the course of investigation, the police landed up at a garage in Baguiati, owned by brother Samir and Sudhir Jhali. Four stolen cars were recovered from the garage, and Samir Jhali was arrested. Sudhir Jhali is absconding.

During interrogation, Samir disclosed the name of four youths who were involved in the racket. The youths - Rajib Ghosh, Biswajit Sardar, Shyamal Das and Mukul Das - were arrested from Salt Lake this evening. 28-years old Rajib Ghosh is, surprisingly, the son of a multi-millionaire businessman of Kolkata. The thieves confessed to their involvement in the racket, and said that they used to re-sale the cars in Tripura, after revamping the exteriors of the cars.

SP (North 24 Parganas) Supratim Sarkar told the media that the thieves used modern techniques while stealing the cars. They used to open the rubber-lining of the rear windscreen of the car, and enter inside after removing the glass. Once inside the car, they used to disconnect all wires connected to the engine, and connect them with other wires so that the car could be started without keys. Then, they would flee with the car, and take it to Tripura, where the car was given a new look, and a new registration number. The car was then brought back to Kolkata, and sold from garages with a fresh set of papers. Some cars were sold from garages in Tripura as well.

Sarkar stated that the thieves had stolen five cars between March 24 and April 5, among which was a car belonging to former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's personal physician, Nani Gopal Sarkar. Sarkar said, "After receiving several complaints of car thefts over just two weeks, we formed a special team to launch an investigation into the matter. Getting a tip off from some secret sources, some of our officers went to the Baguiati garage as customers, and nabbed the owner of the garage. We are on the lookout for Sudhir Jhali, as well as the garage owner in Tripura who used to assist the thieves. There might be more people involved in the racket, and we are probing deeper into the matter."

Add to: del.icio.us Digg Technorati