india

Updated: Aug 07, 2019 22:29 IST

A 19-year-old girl who dreamt of becoming an air hostess ended up becoming a two-wheeler thief. Lure of easy money to fund her soaring ambitions have landed her in a Madhya Pradesh jail.

Her arrest has also lead to busting of a two-wheeler thieves gang operating in Ujjain, 190 kilometers west of capital Bhopal.

Police arrested Vaishnavi Singh, a first-year student of Bachelor of Commerce along with garage owners Salman Khan and Shoaib Hussain, all residents of Ujjain on Tuesday. Salman and Shoaib used to resell the vehicles stolen by Vaishnavi, says police.

According to Kalalseri Police Station inspector Manish Mishra, “Vaishnavi lost her father, a fruit vendor, a year ago. Her mother is a teacher in a private school. Vaishnavi was finding it difficult to pay fees for the institute she was enrolled in to prepare herself for becoming an air hostess.”

Vaishnavi told police that she didn’t have a two-wheeler to go to her coaching classes and had to spend a lot of time on public transport. Once, she stumbled upon a key lying on the road and used it to open the lock of a two-wheeler which she took away. That’s how it started.

Police officer Mishra said she blamed Shoaib for leading her into crime.

“She claims she was paid Rs 5000 for the two-wheeler she stole eight months ago using a duplicate key. It proved to be the first of many two-wheeler thefts she committed. Police have so far recovered three stolen two-wheelers from Vaishnavi and Shoaib,” said Mishra.

Vaishnavi’s story came to light a few days ago after Shoaib’s arrest while he was in the act of fixing a deal to dispose of a stolen two-wheeler. During interrogation; Shoaib revealed that it was Vaishnavi who used to steal vehicles for the duo to sell in the grey market.

“Shoaib used to provide duplicate keys to Vaishnavi who would scoot off with any parked two-wheeler the key could open. She used to get Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 per vehicle from Shoaib and Salman depending upon its condition. The duo would keep the rest of the money after selling the stolen vehicle,” said police.

Police are interrogating Vaishnavi to arrive at the exact number of vehicles she has stolen so far.