Delhi police bust vehicle theft gang, recover 16 stolen bikes; one arrested

Officials said that with the arrest of the alleged gang member identified as Wasim, 29, a resident of Palwal in Haryana, the crime branch has solved 20 cases of vehicle thefts in Delhi

The Delhi police crime branch on Friday said they arrested an alleged member of the Muneem Mewati gang, which is notorious for committing a series of motorbike thefts, particularly in south Delhi neighbourhoods and recovered 16 stolen motorcycles worth around Rs.15 lakh.

Delhi Police crime branch arrested one member of vehicle theft gang and recovered dozens of bikes (HT Photo/Sourced)

Officials said that with the arrest of the alleged gang member identified as Wasim, 29, a resident of Palwal in Haryana, the crime branch has solved 20 cases of vehicle thefts in Delhi.

Wasim, an auto-lifter, was arrested earlier this week while he was riding a stolen motorcycle in the Neb Sarai area in south Delhi, said police.

Special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said that due to the spike in incidents of auto theft in Delhi’s south and southeast districts, special teams were formed and directions were given to the southern range team of crime branch to curb the menace.

Yadav said different teams were formed and multiple CCTV footage installed in the nearby areas where the theft had taken place were analysed. The efforts revealed the active involvement of the Muneem Mewati gang behind many motorcycle theft cases, he said.

Giving detailed information Yadav said, “The gang enters Delhi in a group of four to five members in late night hours, steals 4-5 vehicles in a single attempt and then leaves Delhi in the early morning hours. The CCTV footage analysis helped us identify two of them as Muneem, the gang leader, and his key accomplice Wasim.”

Yadav said during the interrogation, Wasim revealed that in the past one year, the gang stole more than 500 motorcycles from Delhi and Haryana and sold them in the Mewat region.

Further interrogation led to the recovery of 15 more stolen vehicles in the Mewat region, the stolen vehicles included two Royal Enfield bullets, said police.