Pimpri Chinchwad police arrest two, recover 13 motorcycles

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad police recently arrested two men from Ahilyanagar district and recovered 13 stolen motorcycles valued at Rs5.5 lakh.The operation was carried out by a team from the North Mahalunge MIDC police station, led by senior police inspector Digambar Suryavanshi. The arrested suspects have been identified as Nilesh Mandalik (24) and Sandip Sonawane (25).
The arrests followed an initiative by senior inspector Suryavanshi to curb the rising number of two-wheeler thefts targeting factory workers in the MIDC areas. As part of the investigation, assistant police inspector Kalyan Ghadge and his team meticulously analysed CCTV footage from various theft hotspots."Through technical analysis and footage, we traced the suspects to Ambethan Chowk in Chakan, where they were taken into custody," said Ghadge.During interrogation, Mandalik confessed to stealing 13 two-wheelers from various locations, including Mahalunge, Chakan, Shikrapur, Pune city, and Karmala in Solapur district. He reportedly sold the stolen vehicles in Ahilyanagar with the assistance of his accomplice, Sonawane."We have recovered all 13 motorcycles. While we have already identified the owners of eight vehicles, we are still working to trace the owners of the remaining five," Ghadge added.According to the police, the duo's modus operandi involved selling the stolen bikes at throwaway prices. To gain the trust of unsuspecting buyers, they would promise to provide the vehicle documents within 15 days, a promise they never kept. Further investigation into the matter is currently underway.