Mangaluru, July 16: In a special operation jointly carried out by the Vittal and Bantwal town police along with district crime branch police, police have cracked a network involved in vehicle thefts across the district since the past one year and used those vehicles for illegal activities in Kerala.
Police have arrested three persons involved in this activity and confiscated eight stolen vehicles from them.
The arrested are identified as Moideen Sahrif alias Sahreef (26), Davood Jaleel alias Jemsi alias Kalander (21) and Moideen Irshad alias Irshad (21). They are from Kumbale and Uppala in Kerala.
Five pick-up vans, two Maruthi Omni and a Maruthi Wagon-R are confiscated from the accused. The total values of the seized vehicles are estimated at Rs twenty lakhs. These vehicles were stolen from Bantwal, Vittal and Mangaluru police jurisdictions, informed Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Dr S D Sharanappa.
SP Dr Sharanappa informed this in a press meet and said, the accused along with their accomplices were mainly involved in pick-up vehicle thefts during night. Later these stolen vehicles were used for illegal sand transport in Kumble area, Kerala state.
Acting on reliable information, the Vittal, Bantwal and district crime branch officers along with the police personnel’s took a vehicle into custody which was found moving suspiciously near Saradka check post. On questioning the occupants of the vehicle namely Shareef , Davood Jaleel and Irshad; the network of vehicle theft was revealed. Later, the stolen vehicles were seized from near Kumbale. Some others are also involved in the theft and investigations are on to arrest them, explained SP Dr Sharanappa.
Under the directions of DK District Superintendent of Police Dr S D Sharanappa, Additional Police Superintendent Vincent Shanta Kumar, and Bantwal ASP Rahul Kumar; the Bantwal Circle Inspector KU Belliappa, Vittal police inspector Prakash Devadiga, staffs Chidananda Rai, Sheenagowda, Praveen Rai, Janardhan, Harishchandra, DCIB Branch lady inspector Manjula, ASI Sanjeeva Purusha, staffs Palanivelu, Udaya Rai, Taranath, Iqbal, circle office staff Girish, Vasunaika, Sunder Raj , Naresh Kumar, Bantwal town PSI Sanjeev, Suresh, Prashanth, Bantwal rural police station staff Jagdish , drivers Vijayesvara, Yogesh, Narayana Gowda, Vasu Naika, participated in the operation.
Cash prize announced:
Superintendent of police Dr SD Sharanappa felicitated the Vittal, Bantwal town and rural police and also crime department officers and police staffs who participated in this operation. Appreciation certificates were also presented to them and cash prize of Rs 25,000 was also announced as a token of appreciation. He also lauded the operations undertaken by the Vittal police in the missing boy case and sexual assault on a girl.
The accused had hired a Wagon-R vehicle and used it for thefts. They travelled to Dakshina Kannada district by this vehicle and steal pick-up and other vehicles from the district and return to Kumbale. There these vehicles were used for illegal sand transportation. The sand was filled to cement bags and later loaded into the pick-up vehicle. One among the stolen vehicles was also used for illegal cattle transport, explained the SP.
