PUNE: The Airport police on Monday arrested six youngsters, including four engineering students, who were part of a gang that would steal two-wheelers before selling them and making merry with the money. The police have recovered 18 of the stolen twowheelers, including 14 power bikes, collectively worth Rs 21.85 lakh.A police team led by senior inspector Dilip Shinde arrested Adesh Shinde (19) of Parbhani , Ashish Sardar (20) of Buldhana , Madhav Singh (19) of Bihar and Kiran Khairnar(19) of Nashik — all first-year students at a Pimpri-based private engineering college — and their two accomplices, garage-owner Sohail Shaikh (19) and one Somnath Patole (23) of Alandi Assistant inspector Muralidhar Khokale told TOI that last week, police constable Sarang Dale suspected something amiss when he saw Shaikh on a power bike in the Lohegaon area.Four students among six arrested for stealing bikesWhen Shaikh was questioned at the police station, he admitted that the motorcycle had been stolen. He also revealed the names of his five accomplices.During sustained questioning, the students admitted their involvement in the theft of twowheelers from different parts of the city as well as in the district . All six youngsters have been remanded in police custody till July 12.Khokale said the four students come from well-to-do families. They used to identify power bikes to steal in parking lots. “They would either use duplicate keys or break the handle locks of the motorcycles. They also knew how to start the motorcycles by connecting the ignition wires,” he said.The students would keep the stolen motorcycles at Shaikh’s garage. Patole would also help them hide the motorcycles.Another police officer said the probe revealed that the students had sold most of the motorcycles to other students in their college for just around Rs 10,000. “While selling the motorcycles, they would feign that they needed the money for their parents’ treatment or for paying some dues. They would promise to give the original documents of the motorcycles later, which never happened,” he said.

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