Panchkula, April 16 -- What began as a probe into the theft of a tractor-trolley from a petrol pump in Pinjore has led the Panchkula police to a lone mechanic who stole vehicles to sell them as spares. Jagtar Singh, alias Gora, 35, a resident of Kheri village in Patiala, was arrested on April 11 after a multi-district chase that saw investigators scan nearly 300 CCTV footage clips to track him down. The manhunt, launched after piecing together his movement across districts and state borders, led to the recovery of stolen vehicles worth around Rs.40 lakh. With no initial leads, the case, registered at the Pinjore police station on a complaint by Ram Karan, was handed over to the detective staff. The investigators began reconstructing the suspect's trail frame-by-frame through CCTV footage. Police said the search stretched from Madawala in Pinjore to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, and further through Ropar, Ludhiana and Patiala, as teams tracked possible escape routes before zeroing in on the accused. Investigators said Singh, a welding mechanic and Class 10 passout, operated single-handedly. He would identify tractors parked in isolated spots and start them using a spare battery before driving them to his village. His plan, police said, was to dismantle the stolen vehicles and sell the parts in the grey market for quick money. However, he was traced and arrested before he could strip the recovered vehicles. During police remand, the accused allegedly confessed to multiple thefts. Acting on his disclosure, police recovered four tractors and one trolley, all stolen from different parts of Panchkula. Inspector Nirmal Singh, in-charge of the detective staff, said two cases, including those for theft and forgery of vehicle documents, were already registered against the accused in Patiala. Police said further investigations are underway....