Patna, June 8: Modern-day thieves often take to gizmos to evade the long arm of the law. But who would think of a thief committing crimes by changing dozens of clothes to hoodwink public and the city police.

A middle-aged man, who had adopted a unique trick to steal motorcycles and had left nothing to chance, was nabbed.

The man, identified as Anil Kumar Singh, is a resident of Buddha Colony area and a drug addict. Whenever Singh used to be on the prowl for stealing motorcycles, he used to wear at least four sets of shirts and trousers.

Today, however, the man finally ran out of luck after he rode a stolen motorcycle to the same place from where he stole it last Saturday.

Unfortunately, for Singh, the actual owner of the motorcycle, Piyush Ranjan, a student, spotted his motor-cycle parked at Kulharia Complex under Pirbhore police station.

Taken aback, Ranjan decided to keep an eye on the motorcycle from a safe distance. After sometime, Ranjan saw Singh trudging towards the motorcycle and trying to open the fuel tank.

Without wasting a second, Ranjan caught hold of Singh and raised an alarm. The shopkeepers apprised the police patrol on duty nearby.

“This man has a unique way to fox probable eyewitnesses after committing thefts. After stealing a motorcycle, the man drives the two-wheeler for a certain distance. Thereafter, he takes off his shirt and pair of trousers as he ran the risk of getting identified by any person who saw him stealing the two-wheeler. To give effect to his unique modus operandi, the man always used to wear at least four pairs of trousers and shirts. Once he shed the first pair of clothes, the chances of getting identified would have been minimal,” a police officer at Pirbhore police station said.

Keys of four motorcycles, four cellphones and some syringes have been recovered from his possession.

“He seems to be drug addict for sure. If eyewitnesses spot someone stealing a motorcycle or a four-wheeler or for that matter, any object and inform the police of the theft, the first thing that the police do is take note of the appearance of the man, the description of his clothes and passes on the details of the police patrols spread across the city. The thief developed a high level of expertise in changing clothes to minimise the risk involved in stealing motorcycles,” another policeman said. Police officers added that it was strange that the man came down to the same spot from where he had stolen the motorcycle barely five days back.

“Maybe he got overconfident. Ranjan had lodged an FIR regarding the theft of his motorcycle on Saturday itself. The police are presently questioning him on his involvement in other cases of thefts as well. Maybe he is a member of a bigger organised gang of thieves as well. The matter is being investigated,” an officer at Pirbhore police station said.