Veteran former druggie turns bike thief

NAGPUR: A 62-year-old man, who had previously served 26 months for peddling drugs, has been held by the crime branch for allegedly stealing bikes. When arrested, Rajendra Tiwari had three bikes with him. Tiwari was using one of the bikes and was planning to dispose off the other two.
Tiwari worked as a security man at a commercial plaza near Poddareshwar Ram Temple.Police said that it was sheer greed that drove the father of two grown-up children to steal bikes from the parking zone of the commercial premises.
Tiwari had started stealing bikes since the last couple of months. He generally used duplicate keys to sneak out with bikes whose owners he knew would not return soon. He had bought his colleague's silence with money. Strangely, none of the stolen bike owners registered police complaints.
Senior inspector of crime branch, Madhao Giri said the cops first felt it was the college-going son of Tiwari who was involved in the thefts. "We had to verify several clues in details before zeroing down on the culprit,' he said.
Tiwari had changed the registration number of one of the bikes for his personal use. The cops later traced the registration number which belonged to a scooter. Two bikes were kept inside his house and one had been dismantled too. Cops feel that Tiwari might have been planning to sell off its spare parts.