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In a major haul, N R Police claim to have busted a gang of three inter-state thieves adept at vehicle theft. Nine vehicles-eight cars and a goods van worth ’ 43 lakh have been recovered from them.

This was disclosed to the media on Wednesday here by Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal. The accused are identified as Viji alias Patrick, aged 38 years, car mechanic, resident of Dr Rajkumar Road, Syed Ali alias Syed, 31, mechanic, A J Block, N R Mohalla and Nandan N R, 27, K C Layout, sales executive manager with a private cellular service provider, of the city.

The trio fell in police net on December 26, when they were trying to sell a car stolen from Coimbatore near Pushpashrama Junction. Subsequently, they were produced before a court and had been remanded in police custody.

Interestingly, barring a Tata Indigo LX car that was lifted in Mandya and a canter van in Holenarsipura, the remaining vehicles-all cars were lifted in different places in neighbouring Tamil Nadu State alone.

Among them, three cars were lifted in Coimbatore, two in Madurai and one each at Karur and Tirupur police stations limits. Two had been sold to a party in Mettupalyam in Tamil Nadu and another two in Mysore. They were in search of gullible customers to sell the remaining vehicles.

Explaining about their modus operandi, the police commissioners stated that Patrick had mastered the technique of unlocking the door inserting a ruler inside the gap between the window glass. Patrick also demonstrated the technique to the curious gathering that included media.

Being a mechanic, he could have honed his skills on such act, the police commissioner said. Syed was also working as a mechanic in the garage of Patrick for sometime, while Nandan was introduced to Patrick by Syed. Patrick had been arrested on similar charges wayback in 2005, and has pending cases at K R and Nazarbad Police Stations limits. Five of the total cars are of Tata Indigo make, while three are indica. According to the culprits, it’s easy to lift the Indigo make rather than others.

The three are well educated and Nandan, the third accused in the case is a MBA holder. Another interesting aspect that came to light is, they had married women belonging to different faiths, after courting them for sometime.

Patrick had married a girl belonging to Hindu community, Syed, Christian and Nandan, muslim. Recalling their statements, the police commissioner jokingly said ‘they can be called as Amar, Akbar and Antony’ for setting examples of communal harmony.

The police commissioner appealed to the vehicle owners especially four-wheelers to lock the steering, apart from the door. It proves helpful in case of thieves who open the door using crude methods and drive away after connecting the ignition wires.

The police team that cracked the case consisted of Inspector K N Yeshwanth Kumar, SIs R Ramaraju and Guruprasad among others.