Vehicle thieves who battle a stereo type

SURAT, June 28: Stealing vehicles was perhaps until now thought to be the prerogative of male criminals. But in what could be the first a...

SURAT, June 28: Stealing vehicles was perhaps until now thought to be the prerogative of male criminals. But in what could be the first arrests of its kind, the city Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Monday evening announced the arrest of two women involved in a vehicle theft.

The two accused, along with two other men were arrested, with a stolen scooter.

One Nirmala Ramesh Jadhav and Divya Dharmendra Jadhav along with Dinesh Chandrakant Jadhav and Farooq Mohammed Shaikh — all residents of the city — were arrested by DCB PSI V B Patel in connection with the theft of a Bajaj scooter (GJ 5 7572) belonging to one Atul Moti Jhaveri from the Gopipura area of the city.

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The two women mastermined the plan and deputed the two men to carry out the theft, offering them Rs 5000 in return for the act, the DCB said on Monday.

Earlier, the Athwalines police registered a case based on a complaint filed by Atul Moti Jhaveri, a diamond broker, on October 4, 1998 that his Bajaj scooter was stolen from the road opposite his house at Moti Pole in Gopipura.

The vehicle was recovered a couple of days afterwards from H K Street in Begumpura area of Salabatpura. While investigations revealed that it was being driven by Dinesh, a resident of Bhoiya Sheri, Haripura, his interrogations revealed that he, along with Shaikh, a resident of Reshamwaad in Salabatpura, had stolen it on the behest of the two women. Police investigations further revealed that Nirmala (Dinesh’s maternal aunt) and Divya (working as a housemaid in Nirmala’s house) gave Rs 5000 to Dinesh and Farooq to steal the scooter.

DCB officials too were surprised at the involvement of women in vehicle theft, stating that this was the first time that such a thing had come to their notice. They however added that neither Nirmala nor Divya had any criminal record and both accused have yet not provided a satisfactory reason as to why they decided to steal the vehicle.