A motorcyclist who had travelled through 17 countries has had his round-the-world challenge of a lifetime abruptly cut short after his bike was stolen in the UK.
Yogesh Alekari had parked his KTM 390 Adventure motorbike at Wollaton Park in Nottingham at around 11am on Thursday, only for it to be ridden away by a thief who was flanked by two moped riders.
The 33-year-old said that not only was his bike taken, but that it also contained most of his belongings, worth £15,000. This included storage boxes containing his MacBook laptop, a spare mobile phone, two cameras, cash and his passport.
Mr Alekari set off from Mumbai on 1 May, and has since ridden through Iran, China, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, before travelling through European countries such as Germany, Belgium and France.
“I was in Nottingham for a biker event and was about to head to Oxford,” Mr Alekari told the BBC. “I stopped and parked my bike at Wollaton Park.
“I locked the bike up and it was a busy area with children playing so I thought it seemed like a safe place.
“I crossed the road and went to have breakfast but within an hour, I came back and everything was just gone.”
Mr Alekari has been documenting his travels to his 180,000 Instagram and 16,000 Facebook followers, and had plans to travel onwards to Africa after leaving the UK.
After realising his bike had been stolen, he said that he was “totally shocked” and had broken down crying, before contacting the police who failed to attend the park.
“I called the police and it seemed so strange that they just sent me a crime number,” Mr Alekari said.
“I was told they would call me back, and I waited in the park, but they never did.”
Video footage taken by another visitor at the Nottinghamshire Council-run park captured the moment his bike was taken by three individuals.
“I wanted to go from Spain to Morocco, and then to the western coast of Africa, Cape Town to Kenya and then fly back to India,” he said.
“My dream is to ride around the world on a motorcycle. I spent a lot of money to get here and I don’t want to stop now.
“I have travelled from India to here and I went through places like Iran and Turkey, which people said weren’t safe – but I felt safe there.
“People warned me about the UK, but I thought I was away from London and it would be OK in Nottingham.
“I never experienced any incident like this anywhere else.”
PC Andy Smith, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “When you consider the victim’s story and how far he travelled, I can only imagine how distressing it was for him to find his motorbike and belongings had been stolen.
“Our policing teams have been following multiple lines of inquiry since this happened and hope sharing an image of the bike in this appeal will help us locate it quicker.
“Anyone who recognises the motorbike, saw this theft happen, or has any other information that could assist our investigation is asked to please get in touch with us, so that we can take action.”
