Stolen high-end cars’ syndicate busted

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, April 16

In the shadowy underworld of stolen vehicles, Lovely Singh (37), an enigmatic matriarch of a criminal empire built on the wheels of luxury cars, has been arrested by the Delhi Police.

Hailing from Khagaria in Bihar, Lovely Singh’s journey to infamy began innocuously enough, with a degree in BSc and a job in an insurance company. However, fate had other plans for Lovely Singh, who used to live with her four children in Bihar.

Police officials said it was in the insurance office where she first came in contact with individuals who were involved in the sale and purchase of stolen vehicles.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, East District, Apoorva Gupta said, “Egged on by them, she and her husband, Govind, began engaging in the sale and purchase of stolen vehicles.”

The police said Lovely revealed that she was arrested in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in connection with stolen vehicles and robbery in 2021.

Hunger for easy money, officials said, plunged her into the murky waters of car theft and resale.

After her arrest in Jharkhand, the DCP said she began changing her rented accommodations in Bihar and started residing in well-known societies to avoid arousing suspicion. “She also established connections with auto lifters and other receivers of stolen luxury cars, engaging in the purchase and sale of such vehicles to meet her daily needs and earn easy money,” official said.

The police said she would procure stolen vehicles from the bustling streets of Delhi and disappear into the labyrinth of black markets.

“With a network of accomplices and receivers scattered across Bihar and Jharkhand, they operated with the precision of a well-oiled machine.” they said.

The police had received a complaint on March 18, last year about a Brezza car being stolen. The complainant had alleged that the vehicle was stolen from the main road in DDA Market at Trilokpuri. The police in August arrested the accused Govind from Khagadiya in Bihar, officials said. He disclosed that the Brezza was in possession of his wife Lovely Singh and her son Ankit Raj.

The police later arrested co-accused Ankit Raj in this regard. “They revealed that Lovely Singh had received numerous stolen luxury vehicles from Delhi and had further sold or supplied these to others in Bihar and Jharkhan,” an officer said.

The police were making efforts to trace Lovely Singh, but she was absconding and a non-bailable warrant was issued on her name in December last year.

The police said after analysing call data records and local intelligence, Lovely was arrested from the area of Patliputra in Bihar on April 3 and her transit remand was obtained.

She further disclosed that she had purchased numerous stolen four-wheelers from Delhi. The police recovered a total of nine stolen vehicles — three Hyundai Creta, two Maruti Brezza, two Hyundai Alcazar, one Toyota Fortuner and one Hyundai i20.

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