Car thief, wanted by police of 9 states, arrested

Rajasthan-based Satyendra Singh Shekhawat, who has stolen more than 40 cars across a dozen different states, was caught and arrested in Bangalore on Thursday.

Shekhawat, who has a track record of stealing cars in Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Daman, Diu and Telangana, challenged police by saying “catch me if you can.”

It is being said that Shekawat’s wife was his partner in crime. She was in charge of selling their stolen luxury cars.

Shekawat stole luxury cars and SUVs by using smart gadgets to generate duplicate keys. He has been in police custody once before in 2003. Shekawat is said to have stolen 14 luxury cars from Bengaluru alone in the last four years. Police have recovered a Toyota Fortuner and an Audi car from the 41-year-old car thief.

Even though he has been apprehended multiple times before, he always gets out of jail to go back where he started, a news website reported.

The police have recovered SUVs worth Rs. 4 crore from the MBA (Finance) degree holder, seizing 20 four-wheelers, including high-end SUVs, and a two-wheeler. Police also seized 20 manual keys, 13 smart keys, six mobile phones, an Xhorse Dolphin key-cutting machine and other tools from him.

The father of one boy, Shekawat is a habitual offender involved in car thefts since 2003 and has cases pending against him in Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. 

Shekawat’s wife was caught selling a stolen car in Telangana in August 2021, after which he reportedly challenged Telangana police by sending them a WhatsApp text saying “catch me if you can.”