Delhi Police busts interstate vehicle theft gang 4 held

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted an interstate vehicle theft gang and arrested four people, leading to the recovery of 10 stolen vehicles, an official said on Friday.
     The accused have been identified as Aabeid alias Ustad (47), Asif (21), Dilip (34), and Ashish (31). Seven stolen cars — including five Eeco vans, one Ciaz, and one Creta — and three motorcycles have been recovered from their possession, he added.
     "A case of vehicle theft was reported on July 2 at the Prasad Nagar police station regarding the theft of a Maruti Eeco car. The car had been stolen from Bapa Nagar," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Nidhin Valsan said.
     The officer further said that based on the complaint, an FIR was registered. The team developed technical surveillance, analysed CCTV footage, and gathered local intelligence, which led to the identification of a suspect operating from Holambi Kalan.
     "A raid was conducted in Metro Vihar, Holambi Kalan, and Aabeid was apprehended. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and revealed the names of his associates, Asif and Dilip, who were later arrested. The trio disclosed that they would either sell stolen vehicles to scrap dealers after tampering with chassis and engine numbers or use them temporarily before discarding or selling them," said the DCP.
     Their interrogation further led police to Sonipat in Haryana, where the fourth accused, Ashish, was nabbed. Ashish allegedly received stolen vehicles from the gang. Two vehicles — the Eeco van stolen from Prasad Nagar and a Ciaz linked to a case in IP Estate — were recovered at his instance.
     Subsequently, more raids were carried out and multiple recoveries were made. A stereo belonging to the stolen Eeco was recovered from Aabeid's residence, another stolen Eeco was recovered from Dilip, while a third was found at Asif's house. Three more cars and three motorcycles were also recovered on Aabeid's disclosure.
     During the investigation, Aabeid revealed that he used to buy chassis of damaged or accidental vehicles and would re-emboss their numbers on stolen cars. He would then scratch the engine numbers of the stolen vehicles to make them untraceable and sell them in the grey market," said the DCP.
     With the arrests, six cases of auto theft registered across Delhi — including in Prasad Nagar, Chandni Mahal, Daryaganj, IP Estate, Ranjeet Nagar, and Jamia Nagar — have been solved. Police said five additional vehicles are yet to be linked to FIRs. Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)