Inter-State automobile thieves held, 8 cars seized in Hyderabad:

The Malkajgiri Central Crime Station police, along with the Nacharam police, caught two persons, allegedly inter-State automobile thieves, and recovered eight cars, altogether worth Rs 50 lakh from them on Saturday.

The arrested persons were identified as Imran Khan Pathan, a driver from HB Colony in Kushaiguda and native of Maharashtra, and Santhosh Jagannath Pawar, an auto services agent from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. The two, along with six others, all from Maharashtra, were allegedly professionals in stealing cars and were involved in cases in Rachakonda and Cyberabad.

According to the police, they identified cars to be stolen and disabled the alarm system of the vehicle



before opening it with a duplicate key.

“They drive it to a secluded spot, where they further fix a duplicate number plate and drive it to Maharashtra. They also tamper with the engine and chassis number,” said G Sudheer Babu, Additional Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the gang had stolen nearly 50 cars across the country. Efforts are on to identify and nab the absconding gang members.

Following cases reported in Nacharam and Malkajgiri, the CCS police and Nacharam police together worked out on clues and with the help of the CCTV footage from near crime spots, identified and nabbed them.