Delhi Police nab man who could be India’s most prolific thief with 5,000+ thefts

Delhi Police arrested on Monday one of India’s most notorious vehicle thieves, who began stealing cars 24 years ago from the national capital before expanding into a crime syndicate involved in the thefts of at least 5,000 vehicles, animal poaching and weapons smuggling.

Delhi Police arrested on Monday one of India’s most notorious vehicle thieves, who began stealing cars 24 years ago from the national capital before expanding into a crime syndicate involved in the thefts of at least 5,000 vehicles, animal poaching and weapons smuggling.

Delhi Police nab man who could be India’s most prolific thief with over 5,000 thefts to his name

The suspect, 52-year-old Anil Chouhan, was nabbed from central Delhi by a team of cops acting on a tip-off, capping a manhunt launched by the Capital’s police in May when they took stock of the city’s auto theft problem and realised Chauhan was now behind most of the cases.

“To nab him, our team also visited Assam and his other possible hideouts as he recently emerged as one of the most wanted auto lifters and suppliers of illegal arms in India,” said Shweta Chauhan, the deputy commissioner of police, central district.

“Our team arrested him from Desh Bandu Gupta Road. We have also recovered with one illegal country-made pistol, two live cartridges and one motorcycle from him. Later, five more countrymade pistols, five live cartridges and one stolen car were also recovered on the information he shared,” she added.

In a rap sheet involving more than 180 cases, Anil Chouhan has been accused poaching rhinoceros horns and supplying illegal guns across the country. His criminal history began with auto thefts in 1998, before he expanded his syndicate to also run a contract business, eventually attracting the attention of the Enforcement Directorate that seized and sold off his properties last year.

Depender Pathak, the special commissioner of police (law and order, zone-1), said Chouhan now appears to have gone back to stealing cars. “Theft of vehicles is like back to basics for him. Started from this very business in Delhi, he became a white-collared criminal-turned-contractor in Assam. It came to police’s notice that in auto-lifting cases, he had obtained bail from various courts in different states,” Pathak said.

Chouhan was last detained in Assam’s Dispur in January for auto thefts, and was freed on bail in March.

“But since he is nabbed this time with illegal arms and live cartridges, we’ll ensure that he does not get bail so easily and spends longer time behind bars. Additionally, we are also exploring sources from where the accused procured these illegal weapons. In that case, inclusion of more serious sections can’t be ruled out,” Pathak added.

“If charges of smuggling of rhinoceros horns are proved against him, he’ll have to serve many more years in prison,” he said.

A Class 12 dropout, Chouhan grew up in Assam’s Tejpur was of late living in Delhi’s Khanpur Extension. In the past, he was convicted for five years in a criminal case recorded at Nizamuddin police station, the DCP said. She added that Chauhan was famously first arrested in 2015 by Assam police with a sitting state MLA at the time.

Following his 2015 arrest, Chouhan spent five years in prison following his conviction and was freed in 2020. Upon his latest arrested, prior to Monday, he was charged for auto thefts under sections that allowed for early bail.

Police officials said the suspect lived a lavish lifestyle and had three wives and seven children. Prior to the ED’s seizure of his properties, he had assets in Delhi, Mumbai and some northeastern states.