Pimpri: Serial Vehicle Thief with 70 Cases Arrested by Crime Branch, 15 Thefts Uncovered
Pune / Pimpri :
In a significant breakthrough, the Crime Branch Unit 2 police have arrested a notorious vehicle thief, with a staggering 70 cases of vehicle theft registered against him across Pune City, Pune Rural, Pimpri Chinchwad, Dharashiv, and Ahilya Nagar. The authorities have successfully uncovered 15 vehicle theft cases from the accused.
The arrested individual has been identified as Shankar Bharat Devkule, 32, a resident of Uruli Devachi, Taluka Haveli, originally hailing from Fakira Nagar, Vairagnaka, District Dharashiv. Devkule was stealing motorcycles and rickshaws parked at metro stations and deserted locations using fake keys, particularly targeting vehicles without handle locks. He was apprehended by the Crime Branch while attempting to sell stolen vehicles to unsuspecting, uneducated buyers.
During the investigation of a vehicle theft case, Police Sub-Inspector Shivanand Swami and Police Constable Jaywant Raut received a tip from their informant that a man was seen roaming around the Kharalwadi area with a stolen motorcycle. Acting on this information, a team from Crime Branch Unit 2 was dispatched to verify the lead. At that time, the police spotted a man with a Pulsar motorcycle parked near the Punjab Chemical Factory in Kharalwadi, Pimpri.
Upon noticing the police, the suspect tried to flee, but his attempt failed as the police had already surrounded the area. During interrogation, Devkule confessed to stealing the Pulsar motorcycle from a metro station. Further investigation revealed that he had stolen a total of 13 motorcycles and 2 rickshaws from various areas in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune, and Shanti Nagar Bhiwandi using fake keys.
The police were able to recover vehicles connected to 15 theft cases from him, including 3 from Nigdi Police Station, 2 from Chinchwad Police Station, 2 from Bharti Vidyapeeth, and one each from Bhosari, Pimpri, Dighi, Ravet, Hadapsar, Khadki, Wanwadi, and Shanti Nagar Bhiwandi.
This action has been taken by the team of Crime Branch Unit 2 Police Inspector Jitendra Kadam, Police Sub-Inspector Ganesh Mane, Shivanand Swami, Dilip Chaudhari, Pramod Vetal, Jaywant Raut, Usha Dale, Deva Raut, Namdev Kapse, Vipul Jadhav, Sagar Avsare, Atish Kudke, Ajit Sanap, Sandesh Deshmukh, Shivaji Mundhe, and Uddhav Khedkar under the guidance of Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, Joint Police Commissioner Shashikant Mahavarkar, Upper Police Commissioner Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Police Commissioner Sandeep Doifode, and Assistant Police Commissioner Vishal Hire.
