Police have arrested two persons involved in stealing motorcycles from the city and seized 18 bikes worth around Rs 13 lakh from them.
The accused, identified as Imran Ansari (34) from Byculla and Khajar Saiyyad (24) from Meera Road, used to steal bikes and then sell them to people after replacing their registration numbers with those of scrapped motorcycles,police said.
"Recently the duo had stolen a Honda Activa from Grant Road in the wee hours on January 10, following which its owner lodged a complaint with us stating that he had put his mobile in the dicky of the motorcycle," Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajendra Chavan said.
"Since the SIM card of the mobile was active, we succeeded in tracing the location of his bike, which was found parked in Agripada area in south Mumbai, he said.
Thereafter, two teams were formed to keep a close watch on who comes to take the bike, he said.
"On January 20, when the duo came to take away the bike, we grabbed them and took them into our custody," Chavan said adding that after questioning, they admitted their crime and were later arrested.
"Whenever Imran and Khajar stole a motorcycle, they used to replace its registration number plate with that of a scrapped bike, that were auctioned by LIC or other loan-providing companies," the officer said.
According to Chavan, police have contacted RTO to get details of the auctioned vehicles.
The accused would be produced in the court tomorrow, he said.
