Gang of two-wheeler thieves busted, 14 arrested; over 100 stolen vehicles recovered

New Delhi, October 2

The Delhi Police have arrested 14 people and recovered more than 100 stolen two-wheelers from their possession, officials said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Vikram (35), Rashid (41), Jogender (25), Asheem (28), Suraj (22), Manish (20), Deepak (29), Sumit (25), Sumit (25), Nikhil (20), Rohit (25), Amit (25), Yogesh (23) and Sagar (22), they said.

Vikram, the mastermind of the syndicate, has involvements in 89 crime cases, police said.

The arrests have also exposed a nexus between auto-lifters, middlemen and snatchers, they said.

The auto-lifters used to provide the stolen bikes or scooters to some middlemen who would either rent or give them on a commission basis to snatchers or robbers for facilitating them in the commission of crime, they said.

Sometimes, auto-lifters also used to provide the vehicles to the snatchers or robbers directly. The accused used to park the stolen vehicles near parks, nallas or parking places, according to police.

Police formed two teams named ‘Eagle Squad’ to investigate vehicle thefts. The squad started a thorough checking of vehicles that they suspected might have been stolen. The checking, done with the help of ZIPNet, resulted in the seizure of many stolen motorcycles and scooters, a senior police officer said.

On September 25, police found two vehicles lying unattended in Industrial Area Phase-1, Mangolpuri. The vehicles were found stolen from the areas of Tilak Nagar and South Rohini, the officer said.

“A trap was laid and after sometime, four suspects who approached the motorcycles were apprehended while trying to take away the vehicles.

“On their instance, 10 more accused, involved in such acts, were arrested,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) A Koan said.

The syndicate provided high-end motorcycles on high rental charges to criminals so that they could take rides with their girlfriends. The low-cost bikes were being provided to the snatchers and robbers on a commission basis from the proceeds of stolen and snatched articles, police said.

A total of 116 stolen vehicles, including 39 high-end bikes, were recovered from different places, police said, adding one country-made pistol with live cartridge and three stolen mobile phones were also recovered from their possession. PTI