Stolen motorcycle tracked down thanks to determined efforts of police, vehicle owner, and friends

A premium motorcycle that was stolen from in front of a mall at Edappally in broad daylight on Friday was tracked down along with the accused in a couple of days thanks to determined efforts of the Elamakkara police and the youngster who owned the vehicle and also his friends.

Mohammed Faiz, an interior design student, who had parked his motorcycle in front of the mall around 2.30 p.m. found it missing by the time he returned at 4 p.m. He alerted the police control room following which a police team led by Elamakkara sub inspector Manoj C. rushed to the spot.

CCTV footage showed the motorcycle being stolen by two persons who arrived by another motorcycle. A crestfallen Faiz who had bought the 650CC second motorcycle to fulfill a long-cherished dream just a couple of months ago was not ready to just lodge a police complaint, which he did, and wait.

“My friends and I split into different teams and started visiting shops and establishments along every turn the two could have possibly taken. Where the shop owners were not willing to share the CCTV footage, the police team came to our help, and Mr. Manoj was of constant help,” said Faiz.

The search continued on Saturday, and the last footage showed the accused at Kombara near NAD. There were three exits from that point, of which one had no CCTV coverage. Coincidentally, one of Faiz’s friends happened to share a video showing his motorcycle being pushed with foot by another motorcyclist. “He didn’t know that it was my motorcycle but had shared it our group to make fun of how a premier motorcycle had run out of fuel,” said Faiz.

CCTV image also emerged of the two getting to the parking lot of a house in the area. Eventually, the other motorcycle, which was kept covered, was tracked down on Sunday evening. It emerged that the two who stayed at the house for rent were students and the landlord informed that they were in Kollam. The police collected their mobile numbers and traced them to Kollam.

A police team led by Mr. Manoj left for Kollam along with Faiz and a friend in the early hours of Monday. The two accused were nabbed with the stolen motorcycle with a fake number plate. The accused were identified as Savio Babu, 21, of Kollam and Charles Michael Augustine, 22, of Kodungalloor. According to the police, they had stolen the motorcycle to gift it to a friend who did not have a two-wheeler.