Kolkata Police have dismantled an inter-state car theft racket, arresting four individuals linked to the crime. A stolen SUV, originally taken from the Bhowanipore area in Kolkata, was recovered from Bihar during the investigation.
The case began on June 3, when Rajesh Singh filed a complaint at Bhowanipore Police Station reporting that a driver hired through an online app to drive his SUV had disappeared. The driver’s phone was unreachable since June 2. Using the SUV’s GPS tracker, Rajesh traced the vehicle to Asansol, raising suspicions of theft.
Police discovered that the accused driver, Mohit Kumar, had stayed in a Kolkata hotel under a fake identity. Further inquiries revealed a network of accomplices. Acting on the GPS data and a tip-off, police arrested Mohit on June 11 from Sidhgora in Jharkhand.
Interrogation exposed the mastermind, Tushar Dutta, also known as Bumba or Ritun, residing in Sidhgora. Dutta was arrested on June 16 from Baruipur. Mohit had handed over the stolen SUV to Dutta, who then sold it to Avinash Singh of Shri Ji Motors in Kolkata’s Entally area. Avinash was arrested on June 17 and admitted to selling the stolen SUV to Raghuveer Kumar from Samastipur, Bihar.
Police tracked Raghuveer with help from the Indian Railway Police and arrested him on June 21 aboard the Raxaul Weekly Express at Barauni station. Raghuveer confessed to dealing in stolen vehicles and revealed he altered the SUV’s chassis and registration numbers using those from a similar, accident-damaged car. He had then sold it to another dealer in Sitamarhi, near the Nepal border.
The successful operation marks a significant blow to the inter-state car theft network, with investigations ongoing to trace further links.
