Large-scale vehicle theft unearthed: Two arrested with 17 vehicles

The Mulleriyawa Police unearthed a large scale racket and recovered 16 cars and a van that were hired from car rental operators, using forged documents by a gang.

Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said two suspects, who were residents of Yakkala and Mirigama in the gang that was arrested and the vehicles recovered after interrogating the suspects.

It was revealed that the group had hired vehicles from car rental centres, submitting forged documents with fake addresses. Once they had received vehicles, they would tamper with the engine and chassis numbers in order to sell them to a third party.

Another suspect from Gampaha was also arrested for preparing forged documents.

The prime suspect of this racket was arrested following the investigation, DIG Rohana said.

He said the recovered vehicles have been kept at the Mulleriyawa Police yard and those who have been victims of this racket, are requested to visit the Mulleriyawa Police to identify whether their vehicles were among those recovered.

He said the suspects are to be further interrogated to locate more vehicles that were sold to third parties.

DIG Rohana urged the owners of  vehicles or those who are operating rent-a-car centres to take appropriate precautionary steps to prevent being a victim of such malicious racket. (Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya)