Mid-Day

Mumbai, Jun 20: The Khar police claim to have busted a major car theft racket with the arrest of two men, Vijay Nishad (27) and Sanjay Khaire (42), on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amitabh Gupta and Senior Police Inspector Satish Shingte of Khar police station are probing a trail they believe could lead all the way to Nepal.

Investigating officer Dilip Shinde said, “After stealing cars, the accused would go into hiding in Panvel for a couple of days till the nakabandi eased. They would then meet their contacts in Nashik, where the transactions took place. The stolen cars would be taken to Chhapra in Bihar.” The duo sold the stolen cars for as low as Rs 50,000.

Shinde added, “So far we’ve uncovered 30 criminal cases against the accused. Nishad had procured bail in the murder case of a car dealer in Penn, on the outskirts of Mumbai, a month and a half ago. Since then, he has stolen six cars worth Rs 20 lakh in the western suburbs.”