A 30-year-old bike taxi driver, Karnan, from Kanthegoundenpalayam near Alandurai, was arrested on Monday for stealing a Rs23 lakh electric coupe from a car showroom’s stockyard on Trichy Road near Singanallur on May 26.
The car, which was part of a new batch received from a plant in Pune, was discovered missing by R Saravanakumar, the pre-delivery inspection in-charge at the showroom, during a routine check on May 31. CCTV footage revealed an unknown individual driving the car away.
Acting on the complaint filed by Saravanakumar, police analyzed CCTV footage and identified Karnan. Officers deployed in plain clothes tracked him to a petrol bunk where he had parked his motorcycle. Staff there helped apprehend him when he returned to retrieve the bike. The stolen car was found parked at Karnan’s farmland.
Police investigations revealed Karnan had scoped out the showroom over a week before the theft. Finding the car key inside the vehicle, he seized the opportunity to steal it, citing financial inability to afford the car.
Karnan has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody as the investigation continues.
