Police on Tuesday recovered as many as 22 motorcycles which were stolen from different areas of north Bengal and arrested two persons in connection with the case.

The bikes, police said, were hidden in different tea estates in Madarihat block of Alipurduar district.

According to an officer, the stolen bikes were sold to youths dwelling in the tea estates. “We suspect they used to forge the registration number plate and documents,” said an officer.

“We formed a special team and started a probe after receiving complaints about bike thefts from different areas of the district. On Tuesday, two persons were arrested and the team managed to recover the stolen bikes from various locations after interrogating them. The duo has named a few others, who are suspected to be members of this racket. Searches are on to nab them,” said Bholanath Pandey, the superintendent of police of Alipurduar.

On Wednesday, the arrested duo — identified as Sunil Oraon from Kumargram and Jakir Ansari from Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district — were produced in a local court and were remanded in police custody for 14 days.

“We need to interrogate them further for more information. Kuntal Banerjee, the additional superintendent of police of Jaigaon, will head the investigation,” the district police chief added.

Police officers who are probing the case said they are also trying to find out whether the racket was involved in similar motorcycle thefts in the neighbouring states.