This Toyota Innova Owner Nabbed Jewellery Thieves Using A Telematics Device! Here's How

The thieves had rented the Innova to commit the heist but the GPS-based device in the car exposed their crime

Police managed to recover a portion of the heist when they nabbed a group of robbers at the Karnataka-Kerala border on the morning of July 26. The suspects were caught red-handed simply because of a speeding update from the SIM-enabled telematics system that was fitted to the car. It alerted the rental Toyota Innova’s owner, who tracked the car, heard the in-car conversation, and called the cops. 

How did it all start? 

On a rainy Sunday evening, two men walked into the car rental store in Karnataka on the reference of a mutual acquaintance with the owner of the rental car agency. They claimed that they were going on a family road trip to a Sufi shrine in Chikmagalur, about 200km east of Surathkal, and would be leaving early the next morning. The owner of the rental shop agreed to hand them the keys to his own Toyota Innova that was, unbeknownst to the two men, equipped with a GPS telematics device. Essentially, that’s a small inconspicuous anti-theft device that you’d likely find in many self-drive rental cars. It has a GPS tracker, and this Innova’s telematics device even had a microphone to stream the in-car conversation! 

Later that night, the owner’s phone buzzed, telling him that the Innova was going 100kmph southbound down the highway that goes to Kerala. He soon checked the car’s location on GPS and found it parked at a restaurant 20km south of Surathkal. The owner watched as his MPV stayed at the spot for a long time, idling away. To glean what was going on, he turned on the secret microphone in the car to hear multiple men discussing something about a deal, covering the brake lights, and changing the car’s number plate. This was all the sign the owner of the Innova needed to call the cops. 

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Meanwhile, the renters had discussed their plan and headed down the highway to Hosangadi, a quiet town on the northern tip of Kerala. Their target was a jewellery shop. According to reports and CCTV footage, they beat and tied up the security guard, robbed the store, and left when they couldn’t open with a gas cutter the safe hiding gold worth Rs 2.23 crore. In all, they managed to escape with Rs 16 lakh worth of silver, expensive watches, and cash money. 

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They were intercepted in the border town of Ullal while trying to enter Karnataka. The police recovered about half of the silver and cash, although the perpetrators escaped. Later, the police claimed to have identified all the suspects. 

How does a telematics device work? 

Sort of like your smartphone -- it has a SIM card for communication, a GPS sensor and some other hardware and software. You can control it with an app on your smartphone. Our own CarDekho Uplink is one such device. It is compact and easily connects to your car’s OBD-II port without attracting attention to provide all the info through the app. It lets you keep an eye on your car and track it using GPS. It can also tell you if the car is being driven rashly, at high speed, or outside your geofence. Moreover, if you have this device fitted in multiple cars that you own, it’ll show you all your connected cars’ locations and statuses on the app. Find out more about Cardekho’s Uplink here.