Wrong number plate lands carjacker in police net in south Delhi

The nabbed man turned out to be 28-year-old Mehtab who was allegedly carrying a countrymade pistol, a cartridge and some house-breaking tools with him. Mehtab also couldn’t produce the documents of the car and upon checking, the police found that the vehicle had been robbed days earlier from east Delhi.

A carjacker’s ignorance about the registration number of vehicles and a police team’s knowledge of the same, led to the arrest of an armed suspect in south Delhi’s Abul Fazal Enclave on Wednesday.

A carjacker’s ignorance about the registration number of vehicles and a police team’s knowledge of the same, led to the arrest of an armed suspect in south Delhi’s Abul Fazal Enclave on Wednesday. (File Photo)

Police said the arrested suspect, identified as Mehtab, and his associates had robbed a Hyundai i10 car at gunpoint from east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar on February 28.

“As they waited to dispose the car to their contacts in Uttar Pradesh, they decided to change the registration number of the vehicle. They changed the number from DL8CAA1357 to DL7SL8065,” said Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (southeast).

Little did the carjackers know that they had erred in choosing the fake number. “Cars in Delhi do not have registration numbers starting with 7S. The numbering is in the series of 7C. The registration numbers of two-wheelers begin with 7S,” explained the DCP.

On Wednesday afternoon, a police team during a routine check at Abul Fazal Enclave noticed the i10 car approaching them. “The police team happened to notice the unusual registration number of the car and immediately decided to check the documents,” said the officer.

But when the police team asked the driver to stop, he allegedly tried to speed away. The vehicle was intercepted and the driver nabbed, said the officer.

The nabbed man turned out to be 28-year-old Mehtab who was allegedly carrying a countrymade pistol, a cartridge and some house-breaking tools with him. Mehtab also couldn’t produce the documents of the car and upon checking, the police found that the vehicle had been robbed days earlier from east Delhi.

Mehtab is a gym trainer and stole cars with the help of twoof his associates, said the DCP. He added that Mehtab had previously been booked in an attempt to murder and a robbery case.