Gang of vehicle thieves busted in Delhi, four arrested

The head of the gang, police said, is a resident of Buxar, who is involved in at least 15 cases of vehicle thefts in Bihar. Police recovered five sports utility vehicles from their possession along with advanced tools used to unlock automatic vehicles.

Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have busted a gang that stole vehicles from Delhi and other National Capital Region cities and sold them on demand in Bihar’s Buxar, and arrested four people in this connection.

According to the police, the gang was discovered after a resident of Chhattarpur enclave in south Delhi reported on September 3 the theft of his white Scorpio. (Representative image)

The head of the gang, police said, is a resident of Buxar, who is involved in at least 15 cases of vehicle thefts in Bihar. Police recovered five sports utility vehicles from their possession along with advanced tools used to unlock automatic vehicles.

Police identified the leader as Mohammed Sajid, 35, and his associates as Sonu, 37, who was previously involved in two cases of auto thefts, 26-year-old auto driver Akash Singh, who has cases of robbery and theft registered against him, and Munna Ali, 55, a receiver of stolen vehicles. From Etah in UP, Ali has previous criminal records in Bihar and UP. All four were arrested on Wednesday.

According to the police, the gang was discovered after a resident of Chhattarpur enclave in south Delhi reported on September 3 the theft of his white Scorpio.

Deputy commissioner of police, south, Atul Thakur said when police scanned CCTV cameras, they saw three men arriving in an autorickshaw, opening the Scorpio and driving away with it.

“With the help of CCTV footage, we managed to identify the autorickshaw. The driver, Akash Singh, was arrested from Chhattarpur,” the DCP said.

Thakur said the auto driver revealed the identities of his associates Sonu and their leader Sajid, who were both arrested following raids. “On Sajid’s information, we recovered five stolen SUVs -- one Hyundai Brezza and four Mahindra Scorpio,” he said.

The officer said the arrested men said they stole cars in Delhi-NCR and UP and sold them to clients in Buxar.

“They said they used to sell the vehicles with the help of Munna Ali. Ali was also arrested. A number of digital lock-breaking tools, master keys, digital tab and car locks were recovered from the gang. Eight mobile phones, over 50 duplicate car keys of different brands and advanced tools used to unlock automatic vehicles were recovered from them. A sedan car and two two-wheelers stolen by them were also seized, Thakur said.