Gang of car thieves lands in police net

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has busted a gang of automobile thieves and recovered 11 luxury cars from their possession.
One of them, who was also a junk dealer, received ‘total loss’ vehicles—the tag being given to vehicles in a mishap whose cost of repair exceeds actual value—from insurance companies and dismantled them in his workshop in Mayapuri.However, he kept the registration certificate with him instead of depositing it with the transport authority.
Three of his aides then looked for the vehicle of the same colour, make and model as mentioned in the RC. They altered the engine and chassis number of the stolen vehicle to that of the ‘total loss’ vehicle and disposed it of as genuine.
“We had information that notorious car thief Mohammad Ilyas would come to River Mall in Anand Vihar with his associates Bittoo and Ajay. A team was formed and Ilyas, Rajveer and Nadeem were arrested,” additional commissioner of police Ravindra Yadav said.
“Ilyas confessed that he and his associates Bittoo, Nadeem and Ajay had stolen many vehicles from Delhi and Gurgaon and sold them to Rajveer. Ilyas, Bittoo and Ajay stole the vehicles while the documents were supplied by Nadeem. Rajveer dismantled the vehicles in his shop in Mayapuri. Imran altered the engine and chassis number of the stolen vehicles in Gurgaon to that of the ‘total loss vehicles’,” Yadav said.