Alleged ‘drug lord’ Sharafat Sheikh arrested for vehicle theft in Delhi

Police suspect that 53-year-old Sharafat Sheikh used to buy stolen vehicles and gave them to peddlers working for him.

Alleged drug lord Sharafat Sheikh, who is known for running an organised drug racket in Delhi and has over 37 criminal cases registered against him, was arrested on Sunday on charges of vehicle theft.

Alleged drug lord Sharafat Sheikh in police custody. (Photo Credit: Delhi Police)

Police suspect that 53-year-old Sheikh used to buy stolen vehicles and gave them to peddlers working for him.

The events leading to Sheikh’s arrest were put in motion last Friday when a police team flagged a man on a scooter at a police picket on the Barapullah elevated corridor. The scooterist was headed towards Nizamuddin Railway Station. Police said the man, identified as Piyush Verma, was arrested after he was not able to produce vehicle’s papers.

Investigation showed that the scooter had been stolen from east Delhi last year.

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said, “Verma became a drug addict and started stealing motorcycles and mobiles phones to meet his needs. He told the police that he sold the stolen wares to one Mohammad Tabrez alias Pappu Kana, a resident of Nizam Nagar. Pappu Kana was arrested from near Nizamuddin.”

Biswal said Pappu Kana told the police that he worked for Sheikh. Kana said he turned over the stolen vehicles and phones to Sheikh. Following Kana’s disclosure, Sheikh’s house was raided on Sunday.

A senior police officer said 18 mobile phones and two two-wheelers were recovered during the raid. He said Sheikh used to give the phones and vehicles to the peddlers who worked for him.

DCP Biswal said after the murder of Rupesh Besoya in Taimoor Nagar in October last year, by an alleged drug dealer, the police had intensified their crackdown on drug peddlers in the area. “To evade the police crackdown, many peddlers from the area joined Sheikh’s gang. In this case, we have arrested him for his role in auto thefts. We are checking his role in other cases too,” the DCP said.

Among other cases pending against him, Sheikh has also been booked under the stringent National Security Act and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act(MCOCA).