How do you make a bus disappear?
DB arrests 5 members of theft gang who stole, dismantled vehicles into pieces within hours and sold them
Not a motorbike, not even a car, their target is stealing an entire bus.
After stealing a vehicle, they take it to a colluding workshop. There, the mechanic dismantles the entire bus into pieces within just two to three hours.
Then the machinery is sold to scrap shops, while other parts of the body are sold to metal factories in Narayanganj to turn them into usable iron.
Police's detective branch (DB) disclosed this information after claiming to have arrested five members of a bus-stealing gang. This group has stolen at least 15 buses or minibuses from different areas of Dhaka in the last seven months.
Md Ripon (40), the mastermind, started off being the helper of a human-haulier at an early age. Then, he became the driver, and years after, owner of a human haulier, said detectives.
Eventually, he became president of the human haulier association in Farmgate and owner of 15 hauliers. And from these vehicles, he used to earn around Tk 15,000 daily.
But Ripon's fortune was evidently not enough for him. And this greed led him to lose everything after he started gambling using his earnings.
Three to four years back, Ripon started stealing buses and minibuses to sustain his livelihood and gambling, said detectives, quoting his statements during interrogation.
The four other arrestees are the workshop's owner Nur Islam (50), Nazrul Islam (51), Azizur Rahman (34), and Md Manzu Miah (38). All are owners of scrap shops and used to buy and sell stolen bus parts.
On April 4, Abdul Kuddus (62), owner of a minibus, filed a case with Demra Police Station after his vehicle was stolen from Demra area in the early hours of April 2.
"While investigating the case, we first discovered the workshop near Eastern House of Mirpur-12, where the gang members used to dismantle buses," Mahfuzur Rahman, assistant commissioner of DB (Wari division), told The Daily Star yesterday.
When Abdul, along with police, went to the workshop, he could only find his vehicle's number plate.
"Using the intel from the workshop mechanic, we managed to find the mastermind and arrested the five last Monday," he said.
The five were then produced before a Dhaka court, which granted a one-day remand for interrogation. After the remand period ended, the arrestees were sent to jail yesterday.
"During interrogation, the arrestees admitted to their involvement in this crime," said AC Mahfuzur.
THE TECHNIQUES
Ripon is well versed on the insides of a bus.
For stealing a vehicle, he used to target entry points to Dhaka, like Demra, Shanir Akhra and Jatrabari, where drivers and owners park buses at night after ending all trips, Muhammad Ashraf Hossain, deputy commissioner of DB (Wari division), told The Daily Star yesterday.
Ripon would target buses that had unlocked doors and were parked at spots with no security guards nearby.
He then would enter the bus and jump-start it by connecting wires. Sometimes, he used special keys, said detectives.
Then, he used to drive the bus to the workshop, which to everyone was just a regular garage for repairs, said DC Ashraf.
"We have received names of some other gang members, including those involved with the metal factories. We are now conducting drives to arrest them," added the DC.
SALES AND EARNINGS
Detectives said the gang used to get a maximum of Tk 2 to 3 lakh by selling a new bus or minibus, the market prices of which range from Tk 6 to 8 lakh.
For dismantling vehicles, Ripon used to pay the workshop owner Tk 30,000 to 40,000.
Ripon would sell machinery, which has a market price of Tk 70,000 to 80,000, to scrap shops for Tk 20,000 to 30,000, said AC Mahfuzur.