A 27-year-old serial car thief who exploited the OLX platform to dupe vehicle sellers was arrested after a 150-km police chase ending in Karauli, Jaipur East Police confirmed.
The accused, Balveer Singh Meena, posed as a potential buyer, taking advantage of sellers’ trust during trial runs—only to vanish with their vehicles. He later sold the stolen cars to scrap dealers for cash, using the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle.
DCP (East) Tejaswini Gautam said the latest theft occurred on July 20, when Meena targeted a seller in Siddharth Nagar, Jaipur. The car—a silver WagonR (RJ14CA5688)—had been listed on OLX. Introducing himself as “Raju,” Meena took the car for a test drive and never returned.
A case (124/25) was registered at the Airport Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). An investigation team led by ADCP Asharam Choudhary, ACP Aditya Poonia, and SHO Sandeep Basera reviewed over 100 CCTV feeds to track Meena’s route.
He was nabbed in Kachroda village, Karauli district. The stolen car was recovered from him.
Police revealed that Meena had committed similar crimes in Sanganer, Pratap Nagar, Muhana, and Airport areas of Jaipur. He browsed car listings on OLX and used WhatsApp numbers from stolen phones, usually taken from drunk individuals outside liquor shops.
After stealing the cars, he discarded the phones to cover his tracks and sold the vehicles to online scrap contacts for fast cash. Meena was previously arrested in Bharuch, Gujarat, for a similar offence three years ago.
He is currently in police custody, and investigators suspect he is part of a larger car theft and scrapping network. Authorities are working to recover more stolen vehicles and identify scrap dealers linked to the operation.
