4 motorcycle thieves held, 14 bikes recovered in Gujarat

Four members of a motorcycle- lifting gang from Madhya Pradesh, including a minor boy, were arrested and 14 motorcycles were recovered from their possession, police said today.
The four accused, identified as -- Vestabhai Bahadur Bhilala, Motla Premsing Zamra, Vijay alias Gokariya Bhilala, and a minor -- were arrested from Bodeli-Alirajpur crossing area located around 70 kms from here on Friday after they were found moving in a suspicious manner, they said.
A country-made weapon and two live cartridges were also recovered from them, police said.
All the accused belong to the neighbouring Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh bordering Chhotaudepur district of Gujarat.

The arrests were made in a joint operation by the Local Crime Branch (LCB) in Chhota Udepur and a police team of Bodeli town, they said.
"During their interrogation, the accused admitted that they had stolen a total of 61 motorbikes from various parts of Gujarat, including Valsad, Surat, Karjan, Kalol, Bodeli, Chhota Udepur, Naswadi, Pavijetpur, etc over a period of last three years," Police Sub inspector D V Tadvi in Bodeli town said.
The accused also told the police that some of the stolen bikes were kept at a place located in Vankaner in Alirajpur district Madhya Pradesh, following which the motorcycles were recovered.

Jaypalsinh Rathod, who took over as DSP of Chhota Udepur recently, had directed the local crime department to conduct special drives to crack down on motorcycle thieves following a spate of vehicle theft cases in the district.