Pune: Seventy previous cases of vehicle thefts have been registered against Urali Devachi resident Shankar Devkule (32) with police stations in multiple cities. He has been in and out of jail multiple times, however, it hasn't stopped him from stealing two-wheelers and selling them at a throwaway price to pay for his liquor and substance addiction. Last Saturday (Oct 5), the Pimpri Chinchwad crime branch arrested Devkule, a native of Dharashiv district, and recovered 13 two-wheelers, mostly bikes, and two autorickshaws.
He had stolen these vehicles using duplicate keys. Most of these thefts were from the parking areas of Metro stations in Pimpri Chinchwad, some in Pune city and one from Bhiwandi. "Devkule would specifically target two-wheelers in the Metro parking areas that did not have handle locks," crime branch inspector Jitendra Kadam told TOI.
"While going through multiple CCTV footage as part of our investigation of vehicle theft complaints, our team, led by sub-inspector Shivanand Swami, spotted Devkule in one such footage. Devkule was stealing a bike at a Metro station . The team nabbed him from Kharalwadi following a tip-off about his presence there," Kadam said.
"Devkule sensed trouble when our team approached him. The police managed to intercept and nab him after a brief chase," the officer said. Police said Devkule's past record shows 70 vehicle theft cases registered in his name at police stations in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune, Dharashiv and Ahmednagar.
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