GPS trail leads forest officials to stolen Bolero

Mangaluru: A man from Kerala allegedly stole a forest department Bolero parked outside staff quarters in Padil, only to be tracked down within hours through the vehicle’s GPS system. The man was later arrested after a chase in Udupi district. The accused, identified as Nadeem,23, from Kozhikode, allegedly drove away with the official vehicle on Monday, after breaking into it.

Range forest officer (mobile squad) Santhosh Rai said that the vehicle had been parked outside the quarters on Sunday. When the driver got out Monday morning around 7.30am, the Bolero was missing. The matter was immediately brought to the RFO’s notice, who tracked the vehicle through its GPS device.

“The tracking system showed the vehicle moving towards Kundapur. By 8.30am, Kankanady Town police were alerted and local forest staff were mobilised,” Rai said. The accused attempted to flee after abandoning the vehicle but was quickly detained. According to officials, Nadeem claimed that he stole the vehicle "for fun" and his parents were working abroad. Police are verifying his claims and looking into whether he was involved in similar offences in the past. His antecedents are also being checked with Kerala police.

The accused is alleged to have filled the vehicle’s fuel tank at a petrol station in Kuloor and driven away without paying. He had stopped the vehicle for nearly an hour near a house in Moodugopadi in Koteshwar. A forest official spotted him there, but he soon drove off, entered the highway from the wrong side before being tracked down.

CCTV footage revealed that the accused had arrived near the forest quarters around 4am and smashed the rear window, entered the vehicle and found a spare key kept inside the dashboard. He then cut the siren system’s wires to avoid detection.