Bhubaneswar, Jan 12: The Capital Police have arrested two young men who were reportedly involved in a series of bike thefts across the city. The accused, Chaina (20) from Infocity, Shikharachandi Nagar and Raj Khan (19) from Muslim Bastion, Shikharachandi Nagar, were caught using fake keys to steal bikes from parking areas.

Police recovered 12 stolen bikes, 7 fake bike keys, and 2 mobile phones from the duo. During a press briefing, Police Commissioner Dr. S. Devadatta Singh stated that bike theft complaints have been rising in the capital, especially in recent days.

A special team led by Inspector Niranjan Behera was formed to curb these incidents. Yesterday evening, Unit-2 was patrolling the market parking area when the suspects arrived on a scooter and attempted to steal bikes. The police apprehended them on the spot, recovering 3 fake keys from Chaina and 4 from Raj. Their scooter was also found to be stolen, with a forged registration number. An additional 11 bikes were seized from them.

Records show that Chaina has 7 pending cases in various police stations of the capital, while Raj has 5. Both have been sent to court, and investigations are ongoing to trace buyers of the stolen bikes. Commissioner Singh added that, if necessary, the accused would be brought on remand for further questioning.