Gang of car thieves busted, four held in Delhi

New Delhi: The Delhi Police said Sunday it has busted a gang of car thieves who used to steal high-end vehicles parked outside gyms and sell them in Mizoram.

The Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of the police said it has arrested Amit (27), Pramod Nagar (35), Kashif Raza (32) and Kansam Rajesh Singh (43) and recovered stolen vehicles from their possession, they said. 

Two others -- Saddam Hussain (32) and Sarik (47) are absconding, police said. 

After Pramod, who was arrested first, his younger brother Amit, allegedly the gang leader, went into hiding, police said, adding that he was traced through the internet dongle he was using to communicate through Whatsapp with his family and friends. 

On August 19, police received a tip-off that Amit, along with an associate, would come near Peera Garhi flyover on the Outer Ring road towards Janakpuri here and laid a trap for him. 

Amit and an associate, Kashif Raza, were arrested and on their sustained interrogation they revealed their modus operandi. 

They said that they used to sell the stolen cars to Rajesh Singh in Mizoram who in turn sold them after forging registration documents, police said. 

Singh was arrested from Aizawl and five cars stolen from Delhi were recovered from him. One stolen car each was recovered from Pramod and Amit when they were apprehended, it said. 

According to police, their interrogation revealed that all six were part of a gang which was operating primarily from west Delhi and have stolen over 100 cars. 

However, Amit was inspired by the notorious car thief 'Bunty chor' and wanted to steal expensive cars and live a luxurious life, police claimed.

It said that he was not satisfied with stealing small cars and noticed that the patrons left their car keys in a bowl at the reception desk in gym where it was left unattended. 

Subsequently, he would drive away the vehicle and supply it to Saddam or Sarik, who in turn would sell it to Singh. 

The cars with their original keys fetched a higher value as they did not have to be broken into nor their security systems disabled or replaced, which entailed additional costs, police said. With the arrest of the four accused, police have claimed to have solved 34 cases of auto theft in the national capital.