He lives far from the city, but knows it like the back of his hand. Till Tuesday, Jahangir Mollah, mastermind behind the theft of 250 two-wheelers, was successfully running his racket across the city to the frontier districts of Bangladesh. But all his ‘skills’ came to naught late on Tuesday night when officers of Muchipara police station netted him from BB Ganguly Street.

“We recovered a loaded revolver from him. Initially, we started questioning him about his criminal antecedents. But during the course of interrogation, we came to know that he was a two-wheeler lifter the city police wanted for the past three years,” said Naseem Ali, officer-in-charge (OC) of Muchipara police station. Later, Jahangir’s associates Emdadul and Asraf Ali Sarkar were rounded up.

According to OC Ali, Jahangir is a resident of Ramchandrapur village, a hamlet close to the India-Bangladesh border, in the Baduria police station area of North 24-Parganas. “He had been stealing motorcycles for the past three years from different areas in the city. And immediately after the theft, he would send it to Bangladesh,” Ali added.

Elaborating on Jahangir’s modus operandi, an official of Muchipara police station said: “He would start his operation after midnight. Though he stays 70 km away from the city, distance made no difference to him. He knows every corner of Calcutta where two-wheelers are parked without adequate security.”

OC Ali said 28-year-old Jahangir could start a motorcycle by manipulating the ignition wires. He didn’t need a key to unlock a two-wheeler. A small screw-driver could do the trick.

Jahangir and his associates, after stealing the motorcycles, would head straight for Swarupnagar, from where the vehicles would be pushed into Bangladesh. “The gang preferred Hero Honda two-wheelers because the brand has a good market in Bangladesh,” said an official who interrogated Jahangir.

He has a number of hideouts in Swarupnagar, in which he would dismantle the engines of the motorcycles and pass them on to Bangladeshi smugglers,” said the official. “In Bangladesh, the engines are fitted on to mechanised boats. Besides, Jahangir even smuggled motorcyles. Each would fetch him Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000,” he added.

Police admitted that Jahangir had been a surprise catch. “He came to BB Ganguly Street for a reconnaissance trip, with a view to steal some two-wheelers. Our officials noticed him moving around suspiciously and accosted him,” said OC Ali. “He tried to flee but by then, police had surrounded him. He is being interrogated and more arrests can be expected soon.”

The detective department, stung by the rising incidence of two-wheeler theft, recently suggested that the vehicle manufacturers provide extra security gadgets. “We urged them to make the motorcycle locking system more foolproof,” said a detective department official.