A series of thefts of sports bicycles have been reported around train stations in Tokyo's Toshima Ward, investigative sources said Thursday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the cases as serial thefts and is calling on residents to bolster their crime prevention efforts.
According to sources, some 45 sports bicycles were stolen between last October and this January at parking lots of apartment buildings and commercial facilities around Otsuka and Nishi-Sugamo stations in the ward.
Security cameras at multiple crime scenes showed footage of what is believed to be the same two people committing the thefts.
Stolen bicycles include those of major brands such as Giant, Merida and Bianchi, and are believed to fetch between ¥30,000 and ¥100,000 in the second-hand market.
Many of the stolen bicycles were locked, including with chain locks, which may have been destroyed using tools.
Thefts of sports bicycles briefly decreased in early January but increased again in mid-March.
"It is rare that it occurs so many times," Manpei Uchigaki, 46, who runs a bicycle shop near Nishi-Sugamo Station, said.
Three customers visited Uchigaki's store on Jan. 4 to buy bicycles, after all of them fell victim to thefts of sports bicycles.
Uchigaki has recommended sophisticated anticrime measures, saying, "There are locks which sound alarms when unlocked fraudulently, although they are more expensive than ordinary locks."
The Tokyo police are calling on people to store their bicycles inside their homes, as locked bicycles are also being stolen.