Police arrests vehicle lifter, recovers 8 stolen scooters

DEHRADUN: Dehradun police on Sunday nabbed a vehicle lifter and recovered eight stolen gearless scooters worth Rs 4.80 lakh from him.

The accused, identified as Aakash Bhalla, resident of Park Road in Patel Nagar police station limits, was arrested around 8.20am from outside Chaman Vihar colony while he was riding a white scooter that he had allegedly stolen from Chandrabani area on November 1.

According to Ritesh Shah, in-charge of Patel Nagar police station, “We filed an FIR on November 1 on the complaint of Babli Kaur who said that her scooter was lifted from outside her house in Chandrabani. Subsequently, we intensified checks and formed six teams to trace the stolen vehicle and arrested the culprit.”

On Sunday, a police team had signaled Aakash to stop, however, instead of stopping, he tried to flee. He was then chased and rounded up by the police in front of Chaman Vihar colony.

“He confessed of lifting the scooter from Chandrabani area. During interrogation, he also admitted of stealing seven other gearless scooters, which were later recovered by the police from Chaman Vihar area,” inspector Ritesh Shah said.

Aakash told police that he had lifted scooters from Kotwali, Rajpur and Patel Nagar areas in past and he used to sell the stolen scooters at cheaper prices to customers to make quick bucks.

Police said that his modus operandi was to target busy places such as commercial complexes and malls where large numbers of two-wheelers are parked. “He is a drug addict and indulged in vehicle lifting to buy drugs and expensive clothes and shoes for himself,” Shah added.