73-year-old advocate arrested for car thefts

A 73-year-old advocate, who allegedly has over 90 cases of car theft registered against him across Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, was arrested in outer Delhi, the police said on Friday.

A 73-year-old advocate, who allegedly has over 90 cases of car theft registered against him across Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, was arrested in outer Delhi, the police said on Friday.

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Identified as Dhani Ram Mittal, a resident of Mohan Nagar in Haryana’s Sonepat, the accused was arrested from near the M2K cinema complex in Rohini, based on a specific input, said P Karunakaran, additional DCP (outer).

“He was apprehended around 12.10pm when he came to the area in a golden-coloured car and was stopped near barricades for a routine check. He failed to provide registration papers and confessed that he had stolen it from Paschim Vihar about 15 to 20 days ago,” Karunakaran said.

Born in Bhiwani, Mittal did his graduation from the Vaish College in Rohtak before pursuing a diploma in hand writing and graphology from Kolkata.

According to the police, Mittal used to park his car beside the targeted vehicle and used a master key to unlock it. If caught red-handed, he would concoct a story about making a mistake due to his old age.

“He started working as a Munshi to various advocates and also graduated in law in 1970. He started practising in the local court of Rohtak but had been found to be previously involved in 89 cases of cheating, forgery and motor vehicle theft. He started committing crimes in 1964 in Rohtak,” Karunakaran said.

Mittal, the police said, usually used sold the stolen vehicles after preparing fake documents with the help of local RTOs and touts.

He used to get the photocopies of the registration certificates and forge the signatures needed.