The police have arrested around 15 members of a Mirpur-based gang that was involved in stealing motorbikes and later selling them after fabricating ownership documents.
A four-member team from the capital’s Mirpur police station arrested members of the “Sadek-Ashik gang” over the past three days from different parts of the country and seized a large number of motorbikes from their possession.
The motorbikes were mostly recovered from different areas in Jessore's Kotwali upazila and Satkhira district.
Mohammad Russel, the sub-inspector of Mirpur police station who led the drive, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The police have recovered 225 motorbikes, a large number of motor parts and fake documents. Those motorbikes were mostly stolen from the capital’s Mirpur area.”
Although the drive had begun eight days ago, the police only managed to recover the stolen motorbikes during the last three days, Russel said.
The Mirpur SI added: “The gang stole around five motorbikes a day. Usually five members of the gang do the stealing.”
The detained 15 gang members – including a woman – are: Sadek, Ashik, Munira, Mostafiz, Bhanu, Mokbul, Harun, Sorob Dalal, Milon, Tarikul Islam, Anwar Hossain, Rashed, Rana, Shahjahan and Nur Mohammad.
The sub-inspector said the Sadek-Ashik gang worked in separate groups and used a special key to unlock and start the engine of any motorbike. Once the vehicle was picked up, it was driven towards the Aricha ferry terminal where two other gang members crossed the river on a ferry with the motorbike for Tk500.
On the other side of the river, it was Ashik, Sadek, Milon, Rana and Mostafiz who transported the motorbikes to Satkhira or Jessore on a truck. The motorbikes were later kept at the home of Mostafiz where the vehicles were modified, while Milon and his wife Munira worked on creating fake documents.
The stolen motorbikes were sold for around Tk20,000-Tk30,000; with Munira getting Tk1,000-Tk2,000 for her work, while Ashik, Milon, Rana, Mostafiz and Sadek getting Tk5,000 each.
Russel said: “The tendency of stealing motorbikes has risen in the capital. Dhaka Metropolitan Police has launched many drives to arrest the culprits.”
Speaking about the trade of selling stolen motorbikes, DMP Mirpur zone Deputy Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed said: “Motorbikes are usually mostly stolen from Dhaka and Chittagong, and are later sent to Faridpur, Manikganj, Jessore and Satkhira. There are also motorbikes that are stolen from other districts as well, which are then sent to Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.”