Arvind Kejriwal’s blue WagonR recovered in Ghaziabad, police find sword inside

After the Thursday’s theft, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had called it ‘my car’ and slammed Lt Governor Anil Baijal for the ‘poor’ law and order situation in the city.

Police in Ghaziabad found on Saturday morning a blue hatchback they believe is the car of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal that was stolen from outside the secretariat on Thursday.

The vehicle was spotted in Mohan Nagar at around 8:15am, two days after it was stolen from outside the secretariat in Delhi. (Sakib Ali/HT Photos)

“The car we recovered from Mohan Nagar early Saturday morning bears registration number ‘DL9CG-9769.’ It seems to be the same car. However, we are verifying the details of the car with Delhi police. The car has been brought to Sahibabad police station,” said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city).

Officials said they also found a sword inside the vehicle.

The theft of the chief minister’s car brought into focus a persistent problem in the national capital where an average of 112 vehicles are stolen every day. Kejriwal raised the issue with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijjal, the person Delhi’s police reports to.

Ghaziabad police said the car was found abandoned near a hospital at Mohan Nagar.

“There is no damage to the car and she doors were found locked. The Delhi police officials have also arrived and the car will be handed over to them for further investigation. The car was spotted around 8.15am at the spot and our officials brought it to the police station,” said an official from Sahibabad police station.

Officials of the Delhi police earlier said the theft took place around 1pm and was captured by a surveillance camera outside the secretariat. The footage, however, was too blurry to determine the identity of the suspect.

The car was being used by Vandana Singh, the Aam Aadmi Party’s in-charge of youth wing and the party’s media coordinator, and was often seen parked at the party office at Central Delhi’s Deen Dayal Upadhya Marg.

The car was donated to Kejriwal in January, 2013 by Aam Aadmi Party’s UK-based volunteer Kundan Sharma. Sharma, a software engineer, in 2015 asked for the vehicle to be returned since he was upset over the removal of party founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. He later piped down and said it was an attention seeking gesture.

After using it during his famous 49-day-stint as chief minister, Kejriwal gave it to Naveen Jaihind, the party’s Haryana incharge. Jaihind used the car for campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Rohtak before Vandana took possession of the car.