Kota: Kota Rural police arrested five members of an inter-district vehicle theft gang and recovered 37 stolen motorcycles during a special anti-crime drive, Operation Criminal Dusting, officials said Saturday.Addressing a press conference, Kota Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Sujit Shankar said the arrested accused targeted parked vehicles across various districts in Rajasthan as well as neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.“Our teams have successfully traced the origin of most of the recovered two-wheelers. Of the total 37 motorcycles, nine were lifted from Kota City, eight from Kota Rural, six from Bundi, four from Jhalawar and two from Madhya Pradesh,” SP Shankar said. “Investigation into the ownership of eight other recovered motorcycles is still underway.”The arrested accused were identified as Dilraj Bhil, 29, of the Suket police station area; Tikam Bhil, 40, of the Sunel police station area in Jhalawar; Mobarik, 30, of Khatoli; and Ramesh Kumar Vaishnav and Ravi Kumar Vaishnav of Chhapda Bholu village under Chechat police station limits. Police said all five have previous criminal records.Shankar said special teams were formed under the campaign to curb rising incidents of vehicle theft and identify habitual offenders.Police teams identified theft-prone hotspots and maintained surveillance at locations reporting a high number of vehicle theft cases. Investigators also prepared lists of previously charge-sheeted offenders and monitored their activities and sources of livelihood. Technical surveillance and CCTV footage analysis were used extensively to trace the accused.Further investigation is underway to identify more stolen vehicles and possible accomplices.
