Thiruvananthapuram: Car jackers have field day

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two inter-state vehicle thieves were arrested by Thiruvananthapuram city police for stealing 22 cars from across Kerala by hacking into their central locking and engine immobiliser systems. For the first time in the state, the police recovered a Chinese kit that was used to hack immobiliser and ignition systems of cars. The gang used to arrive in luxury cars like BMW to steal and escape without being stopped. The accused were identified as Parameswaran of Madurai and Mubarak of Anandapuram, Tiruchirapally. The first accused was married to a criminal lawyer. 

“Vehicles parked before houses near highway were targeted. Only a few model of cars with high resale value were chosen,” said city police commissioner P. Prakash. The matter came to light when police noticed a link in high-end thefts in the capital and Thrissur rural area. They managed to get CCTV footage and other proofs. In the probe, they identified that a particular gang was in possession of the Chinese kit.

A device used by the gang to crack into cars.

“The gang used to remove the quarter glass of car using battery operated cutter. They use special devices to deactivate alarm and hack into immobiliser. Then they use chip analyser to detect the unique security chip and start ignition. The ignition system data was formatted and reinstalled to link it with duplicate key,” cops said.   Around seven cars were stolen from Thiruvana-nthapuram and the others were stolen from Thrissur and Palakkad. They used to sell cars in various cities in Tamil Nadu. The gang was held by a shadow team headed by DCP Jayadev G. and city control room assistant commissioner Suresh Kumar V. such as Chennai, Veyiloor, Thiruchirappally and Coimbatore. Some cars were disassembled and sold as spare parts.