Pune: Online Gaming Addiction Drives Youth to Steal 18 Two-Wheelers Worth ₹26 Lakh in Pimpri-Chinchwad

In a major breakthrough in the vehicle theft cases the Pimpri-Chinchwad police has arrested five accused involved in two-wheeler thefts and buying and selling of stolen vehicles. The accused took to vehicle thefts as he was addicted to online gambling and had incurred substantial losses in online gaming. To recover the losses the accused learnt about vehicle theft by watching YouTube videos and was involved in almost 18 two-wheeler theft cases in Chakan and Manchar areas of Pune.

The arrested accused has been identified as Abhay Suresh Kharde (age 23, Res. Jhole, Dist. Sangamner, Dist. Ahmednagar, Presently Res. Gunjalwadi Road, Sangamner, Dist. Ahmednagar), meanwhile his accomplice Rabindra Nivritti Gavane (age 23, Res. Anjanapur, Dist. Kopargaon, District Ahmednagar), Shubham Balasaheb Kale (age 24, Res. Kolpewadi, Dist. Kopargaon, Dist. Ahmednagar), Yash Nandkishore Thutte ( Age 22, Res. Buldhana0 and Prem Bhaidas (Res. Ashoknagar, Nashik) who was involved in buying and selling of the stolen vehicles has also been arrested by the Chakan Police. The Police have seized 18 two-wheelers worth Rs 26 lakh stolen from the accused.

The investigating team of the Chakan police station scrutinized almost 100 to 150 CCTV footage of the crime scene. While investigation a CCTv footage reveled the accused travelling on a stolen Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle towards Sangamner city. The Chakan Police received  a tipp off about the wearabouts of the accused to be in Sangamner. Accordingly the police tracked the accused through technical analysis and apprehended him from his residence in Sangamner.

The police has recovered 11 Bullet motorcycle, 06 hero Honda Splendor, and one Yamaha R15 bike from the possession of the accused.

Further investigations revealed that the accused stole the bikes and sold them to dealers to use the money for his online gambling addiction. The accused lost the money earned from the vehicle thefts to his online gambling addiction.

Senior Police Inspector Pramod Wagh of Chakan Police Station, Natha Gharge, Assistant Police Inspector Prasanna Jarad, Ganpat Dhaygude, police Constable Hanumant Kamble, Bhairoba Yadav, Sunil Shinde, Shivaji Chavan, Raju Jadhav, Rishi Kumar Zhankar, Sudarshan Barde, Sunil Bhagwat, Mahesh Koli, Mahadev Vikkad, Revnath The team of Khedkar, Sharad Khairnar, Nitin Gunjal, Kiran Ghodke, Madhuri Kachate investigated the case and arrested the accused. Further probe is underway.