Kalpetta: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Wayanad police, led by Superintendent of Police (SP) T Narayanan, arrested the kingpins of an interstate vehicle lifting racket. Police said the gang used to steal vehicles from various parts of the state and smuggle them to chop shops in Tamil Nadu.
Ex-Armyman B Sujesh Kumar (44) from Thiruvanvandoor in Alappuzha, and Kakkattuparambil Abdul Salam (37), a native of Feroke in Kozhikode were arrested by the police.

They said more members of the racket would be arrested soon. With close links with the vehicle breaking shops of Tamil Nadu, the duo also played as middlemen between vehicle lifters and the chop shop owners.

The SIT was constituted after vehicle lifting became a routine affair in Thondarnadu, Meppadi, Kambalakkad police station limits over the past few months. The accused, Abdul Salam, has more than 30 cases charged against him at various police stations across Kerala, and Sujesh Kumar is wanted in 10 cases.

The first vehicle theft reported occurred on March 13 at Kambalakkad police station. Similar thefts occurred on July 13 at Meppadi, where a Force pickup was stolen from Kunnambatta playground, and on July 19 at Thondarnadu, where a Mahindra pickup van was stolen from the premises of NM Cement Products at Korome.
All thefts followed the same modus operandi, leading police to believe the same gang orchestrated them. On directions from SP T Narayanan, Mananthavadi special mobile squad DySP MM Abdul Karim constituted a special investigation team under him.

Upon learning that the vehicles were smuggled to Tamil Nadu, a police team from Wayanad, led by Thondarnadu SI K Moidu, moved to the neighbouring state and initiated an investigation focusing on vehicle dealers and chop shops in Coimbatore, Namakkal, Pollachi and Mettupalayam.

The team also identified key smuggling routes to Tamil Nadu used by the vehicle lifters and scanned CCTV cameras. The breakthrough came on July 26, when the team seized the Mahindra pickup from Kuruvanoor near Mettupalayam, which led to the arrest of Sujesh Kumar and Abdul Salam.

The police said the duo would travel on a bike for several days to find the ideal location before planning their operation. They would lift the vehicle at night. Sujesh Kumar would drive the stolen vehicle while Abdul Salam followed him on the bike. The police seized two stolen pickups and the bike they used. Both have been remanded to judicial custody.