The Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an inter-State gang of auto-lifters operating in Delhi, Haryana and the Northeast.
“We have arrested four persons, including a former Manipur Police constable. All accused belong to Manipur. Sixteen high-end cars and SUVs have been recovered from Delhi and Imphal,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Romil Baaniya.
He added that the gang would tamper with chassis numbers of the stolen vehicles and re-register them at District Transport Offices in Manipur to sell them.
Tip-off received
The anti-auto theft squad (AATS) of the south district police was gathering information on the gang when it received a tip-off and arrested 34-year-old Asker Ahmad from Sector 5 in Saket’s Pushp Vihar on March 27. The sedan he was driving was found stolen from Paschim Vihar.
A search of the vehicle led to seizure of five countrymade pistols and eight live cartridges.
Mr. Ahmad told the police that he was an MBA graduate and ran a call centre, which got shut down during the financial crisis in the United States.
Held in 2016
The police also discovered that he was arrested by the Special Cell in 2016 for smuggling tablets containing pseudoephedrine to China.
“Mr. Ahmad confessed that he has already transported over 50 stolen cars to Manipur since 2016, which were sold after forged documents were prepared to register the vehicles at different District Transport Offices in Manipur. The illegal arms found in his car were sourced by him from Nahrup in Imphal,” Mr. Baaniya said.
Following Mr. Ahmad’s interrogation, eight stolen vehicles were recovered from Manipur and four vehicles, including a luxury car and three motorcycles, from Kotla Mubarakpur in Delhi, the officer said.
Mr. Ahmad’s interrogation also led to the arrest of three other gang members — Mohammad Fakruddin (31), Sorokhaibam Chorijit Singh (25) and Abdul Gaffar Khan (34) from Kotla Mubarakpur, on April 8, Mr. Baaniya said.
A constable in the Manipur Police, Mr. Fakruddin was dismissed from service for his involvement in auto-lifting, while Mr. Singh is a proclaimed offender in many cases, the officer added.
