Bangalore: Bangalore police have arrested Ameer Pasha on charges of stealing bikes from local mosques in the city. Pasha used to frequent mosques in the guise of a
maulvi and steal bikes of
namazis while they were busy with prayers.
"While entering the mosque, he used to carry a helmet so onlookers thought he had come on a bike. When people got busy praying, he would speed away with any bike parked outside the mosque that struck his fancy using a master key," said R Prakash, PSI of Upparpeth police station.
"He would sell them off in Kolar, his home town, where he had told people that he's working in the vehicle seizing department. Moreover, he had selected a few people from the community who sold the bikes for him. To authenticate the sale, he also gave buyers fake papers of the vehicle after they made the entire payment to him," revealed Prakash.
However, Pasha ran out of luck when a youth suspected some foul play and informed the Bangalore police.
A team immediately reached Kolar and arrested Pasha. The cops also recovered eight bikes collectively worth around Rs 7 lakh from him.
Pasha told the police that he stole because he needed money for treating his leg injury. "When we checked his leg, we found no injuries," Prakash said.