Man held for stealing omni bus from Tiruchy RTO

In an incident that caught officials by surprise last year, a man drove away an omni bus that was parked in an RTO office here in the district. He was, however, arrested and the vehicle was recovered by the police on Wednesday.

According to sources, officials at the RTO here have been organising a surprise vehicle check across their jurisdiction and have been seizing those vehicles violating norms and skipping tax payment. An omni bus was seized in such an operation last year, and taken to the RTO office in Panchapur and parked there.

However, on December 31, miscreants had driven away the bus which was estimated to be worth Rs 9 lakh and officials then lodged a complaint with the Sessions Court police station on January 3.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered and a special team was formed to nab the culprits and recover the stolen vehicle. The police conducting an extensive inquiry traced the miscreant to be at Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar district. The team then rushed to the spot, but the culprit had escaped and was hiding at Vembar in Thoothukudi district.

Subsequently, the police identified the culprit as Suyambu from Subramaniapuram in Vembar. The police who rushed to the spot arrested him on Tuesday. The accused had confessed to the crime. They also seized the bus. Suyambu was then lodged in the Central prison here.