Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad Police Recover 30 Stolen Vehicles From Two Thieves

Nigdi, 23rd September 2024: The Detection Branch (DB) of Nigdi Police Station, Pimpri Chinchwad Police, has recovered 30 stolen vehicles worth Rs 17.5 lakh from two accused.

The Nigdi Police arrested Ram, also known as Kaviraj Dnyanoba Kendre (age 28, resident of Parbhani), and Avinash Tukaram Holambe (age 28, resident of Parbhani). Fourteen cases were registered against them across Maharashtra, where they committed 27 crimes, all of which have now been solved.

As per information provided by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Swapna Gore, a case was registered at Nigdi Police Station under IPC Section 379 (Theft). Following instructions to address the growing issue of vehicle thefts, the Detection Branch (DB) of Nigdi Police Station inspected over 300 CCTV cameras to catch the suspects. The DB determined that the accused had travelled to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. A DB team led by Assistant Police Inspector Ambarish Deshmukh arrested Kendre. During interrogation, the whereabouts of Holambe were discovered, leading to his arrest as well.

It was revealed that both had committed multiple crimes. To transport the stolen two-wheelers to their village in the Parbhani district of Maharashtra, they had hidden them on an unused piece of land in the Chikhali area. From this location, 15 two-wheelers were confiscated. They also confessed that some vehicles were in their villages and that they had sold them. By detaining the involved agents and others, the police managed to recover an additional five two-wheelers. When the local community learned of the arrests, those who had bought vehicles from the accused returned them, leading to the recovery of another 10 two-wheelers. In total, 30 motorcycles worth Rs 17,50,000 were confiscated.

With this arrest, 27 cases have been solved: 4 in Nigdi Police Station, 4 in Hinjawadi, 2 in Wakad, 1 in Dighi, 1 in Ranjangaon MIDC, 1 in Haveli, 4 in Chikhali, 2 in Pimpri, 1 in Alandi, 1 in Chaturshrinhi, and 1 in Ranjangaon Police Stations in Pune District, along with 1 case each in Ambajogai City, Mira Road, Shivajinagar (Latur), and Khalapur Police Stations across Maharashtra.

The two accused, who are related and both hail from the same village in the Parbhani District of Maharashtra were living in the Chikhali area. They possessed many duplicate keys, which they used to try in various vehicle keyholes; if the keys worked, they would steal the vehicles. They would then take the stolen vehicles to a secluded location before transporting them to their native village. They also stole vehicles along the route from Pune to their village.

This operation was conducted under the guidance of Pimpri Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Vinoy Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Swapna Gore, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Chinchwad Division) Mugutlal Patil.

The team, led by Senior Police Inspector Shatrughna Mali and Police Inspector (Crime) Nilesh Waghmare, included Assistant Police Inspector Ambarish Deshmukh and Police Constables Bhagwan Nagargoje, Rahul Gaikwad, Sudhakar Awtade, Sidram Baba, Vinod Honmane, Dattatraya Shinde, Swapnil Pachpandey, Tushan Gengje, Vinayak Marathe, Sunil Pawar, Deepak Pise, Praveen Bamble, Keshav Chepte, and Natun Konde.