Swift theft gave them confidence to steal BMW

CHENNAI: A man who posed as a driver to steal cars and his accomplice were arrested in Mumbai over the weekend and brought to Chennai on Monday. They will be produced before a court on Tuesday.
The cars they stole in Chennai and sold in Mumbai – a BMW and a Maruti Swift – were also brought to the city to be attached.
Police said Murugan had worked as a driver for Trivendra Kumar Lath, a businessman who lives in R A Puram, for 20 days in October.Lath suspected him of petty thefts and sacked him. But Murugan had kept a duplicate key of the BMW that he drove for Lath. Murugan then joined work with Suresh Gupta, a businessman, in Chetpet on November 9. Gupta asked Murugan to drive him to a temple in T Nagar. As there was no space to park, he told Murugan to park the Maruti Swift in a side street and wait. When Gupta finished his prayers and called Murugan on his mobile phone, he found it switched off. He took an auto back to his house but found the car and driver missing.
He registered a complaint at the Soundarapandianar Angadi police station. “As Murugan had given Gupta a fake address, he could not be traced,” police said. Murugan then got in touch with Syed Kader Nawas, 29, who runs a travel agency in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
The two had worked together in Dubai. “With Nawas’ help, Murugan went to Mumbai and sold the Swift for Rs 1.5 lakh. As they had been successful, they decided to steal Lath’s BMW as well. Murugan returned to Chennai and went to Lath’s house on November 21. He used the duplicate key and stole the BMW,” said East Chennai joint commissioner of police S N Seshasai.
Abiramapuram and Tilak Nagar police suspected Murugan, a resident of T Nagar, and Nawas. Police posed as buyers and nabbed them. A police team led by Kotturpuram assistant commissioner of police K Sivasankaran and Abiramapuram police inspector Venkatesh Kumar arrested the duo in Mumbai.A transit warrant was issued by a Mumbai court and Murugan and Nawas were brought to Chennai by train.