Shillong, Dec. 8:Meghalaya police believe that a tech-savvy gang is allegedly involved in hijacking vehicles from Assam and Meghalaya, which could have 'links' with the NSCN (I-M), a militant outfit based in Nagaland.
The police came to this conclusion after an operation was carried out by the police at Dimapur in Nagaland, which led to the arrest of a five-member gang of car thieves.
'The gang comprises tech-savvy people who know how to operate the gadgets and applications to commit the crime. They are quite smart and using weapons belonging to the NSCN (I-M),' superintendent of police (city), Vivek Syiem, told reporters here.
Asked if the gang has links with the militant outfit NSCN (I-M), Syiem did not rule out the nexus.
'The gang has borrowed the weapons from the NSCN (I-M). Interrogation is on and we have not established a proper link between the gang and the NSCN (I-M) yet,' Syiem said.
Narrating the sequence of operations in connection with the crime, Syiem said onOctober 11, a complaint was lodged by a car owner, R. Kharsyntiew, that his Scorpio (ML05-K-5471) was hired by a person from the parking lot at Polo.
Again onNovember 6, another tourist vehicle (ML05-L-7174) was hired from Laitumkhrah and once it reached Dimapur in Nagaland, the vehicle was hijacked at gunpoint.
A case was registered with Dimapur police and during the course of investigation, one Amit Saha was apprehended in Byrnihat in Ri Bhoi district following a tip from the special cell, Shillong.
On Saha's lead, a team led by Syiem went to Dimapur on December 3 and launched an operation there with the assistance of Nagaland police.
Following the operations, three persons identified as Hinoto Zhimo, 24, Ngukta, 25, Atomu Aye, 22, were arrested and brought to Shillong.
'All the three admitted their involvement not only the above referred case but also in other car-lifting cases which were registered in both Meghalaya and Assam,' Syiem said. informed
Apart from the four accused, another person, Jagdish Singh, an employee of the Meghalaya PWD (roads) posted at Mawsynram, was arrested for providing logistic support and information to the gang.
Replying to a question that high-security registration plates has not helped the police track down stolen cars, Syiem said there are several other safety devices car owners can install to prevent theft.
Syiem said the thieves are pretty tech-savvy as they are disabling the safety devices installed in the vehicles.
'Catching criminals in the police's job but it is also the car owners' responsibility to adopt safety measures which will act as a deterrent for the criminals,' Syiem said.
He also appealed to all drivers of long-distance vehicles to take passengers from designated stands, not to accept food from passengers and most importantly to install safety gadgets such as CCTVs at the taxi stands, GPS and desktop cameras in the vehicles.
