Pune Rural Police Bust Inter-State Car Theft Ring; ₹11.40 Lakh Worth Vehicles Recovered

Pune Rural Police has arrested an inter-district gang leader known for vehicle theft using modern technologies and machines, officials said on Thursday. The accused has been identified as Nadeem Daud Sheikh (32, resident of Buldhana).

According to the police, a case of vehicle theft was registered at Shirur Police Station on August 26. Following the registration of the case, the crime branch police were investigating the matter and analysing the CCTV footage of nearby areas. They got information that Sheikh had stolen a four-wheeler from Shirur and it was spotted in Buldhana.

Acting on a tip-off, crime branch police and Buldhana police station officials laid a trap and arrested Sheikh from Kumbephal in Jalna. During interrogation, Sheikh confessed to the crime he had committed with the help of his accomplices Vishal Jadhav and Kishor Pawar. The police seized two cars from him along with the stolen vehicle from Shirur, all worth ₹11.40 lakh.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, explained the modus operandi of the crime. Deshmukh said, "Before committing the crime, the criminals went to an old market in Punjab and bought an OBDStar Key Master. This is a powerful all-in-one automotive diagnostic and programming tool designed to help diagnose and program keys for various car models. Accordingly, after analysing the year of the model of the vehicle, the criminals opened the door by putting a wire or strip through the side glass, then connected the electronic machine to the car and turned on the system. Similarly, the duplicate key got activated by dummy software, which easily started the car and it was stolen. After stealing the vehicles, they sent them to different states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where the car spare parts were sold."

Moreover, Sheikh has confessed to 11 cases of theft of four-wheelers in Ahmednagar, Pune Rural, Jalgaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, and Buldhana districts. Meanwhile, the crime branch has seized four four-wheelers from Tamil Nadu which were stolen by Sheikh last year.