31 Honda Activas stolen from Ahmedabad Godown, 3 held in inside job bust

In a major breakthrough, the Ahmedabad Zone-5 Local Crime Branch (LCB) has busted a theft racket involving 31 two-wheelers stolen from a Honda warehouse in the Nava Naroda area. Investigators found that the crime was orchestrated by insiders working at the facility.

Police arrested two men and a minor in connection with the case and recovered 26 stolen Honda Activa scooters worth Rs 23.25 lakh.

The complaint was filed by Dharampal Chauhan, a warehouse manager at a Honda showroom in Nikol, after a stock audit revealed that 30 Activas and one motorcycle had gone missing over four months. The warehouse, located behind Shelby Hospital, typically stores over 1,000 vehicles.

HOW THE THEFT WAS CARRIED OUT

According to police, the main accused, Shahid Sheikh, who worked at the warehouse, devised a simple but effective plan.

Whenever a showroom order came in, Shahid would dispatch one extra Activa beyond the official count. Before the delivery reached its destination, he would hand over the additional vehicle to co-accused Digu Singh.

Singh, who worked at a nearby TVS showroom, would then sell the stolen scooters in rural areas at heavily discounted rates to avoid suspicion.

The accused reportedly sold the stolen scooters for around Rs 30,000 each, claiming they were company-damaged vehicles. To build trust, they offered convincing explanations for missing registration documents and insisted on cash payments.

Police said Shahid earned between Rs 18,000 and Rs 25,000 per vehicle, while Digu Singh received around Rs 5,000 per sale. The large inventory at the warehouse helped the accused operate undetected for months, as discrepancies initially went unnoticed.

Following the complaint, police tracked down the suspects and recovered 26 of the 31 stolen vehicles. Efforts are underway to trace the remaining scooters and identify buyers.

Officials said further investigation is in progress to determine whether more individuals were involved in the racket.

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