Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Monday arrested a 30-year-old man who allegedly posed as a buyer on popular online market place OLX and contacted prospective sellers before fleeing with their motorcycles on the pretext of test drives, in Bhubaneswar.
The accused has been identified as Amit Kumar Patra (Jitu), a resident of Narayana Mandir Sahi under Bhanjanagar Police limits in Ganjam district.
The Commissionerate Police has so far recovered 11 motorbikes that he had stolen using the same modus operandi from sellers in the capital city and had sold at multiple locations, including Sonepur district.
Sources in the Commissionerate Police said that Patra's would search for prospective motorbike sellers on OLX and contact them. He would then fix an appointment with them. Once the unwitting seller handed over the vehicle key to Patra for a test ride, the latter would vanish from sight in no time.
Subsequently, Patra used to sell the vehicles to his 'customers' in several districts at low prices, added police sources.
Acting on a tip off by reliable sources, a special squad of Twin City Commissionerate Police had launched an investigation and nabbed Patra from his native place in Ganjam.
Meanwhile, the police have appealed to people subscribing any online buy-sale platform to doubly verify the bonafides of the buyer or seller before striking a deal. Moreover, they should not share key personal data or account details/passwords to unknown people they come across on virtual platforms. In case of any doubt or loss of money/property, the victim/s can approach the dedicated police help desk which was recently made operational to redress people's grievances regarding cyber offences.