New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) In a major breakthrough against organised vehicle theft, the team of Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), South-West District, Delhi Police, has busted a notorious inter-state auto thief gang and arrested eight accused persons, including five auto thieves and three receivers of stolen vehicles.

With their arrest, police recovered a total of 10 stolen vehicles, including nine cars and one motorcycle, along with 18 pairs of fake number plates, 21 remote keys used for preparing duplicate vehicle keys, and vehicle theft equipment, including OBD scanners, drill machines, and lock-breaking tools.

Keeping in view the recent incidents of vehicle theft in the South-West District, a dedicated team of AATS/SWD comprising Sub-Inspector Ram Pratap, Assistant Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar, Sub-Inspector Vinod Kumar, Head Constable Mohit, Head Constable Ravinder, Head Constable Pradeep, Head Constable Narender, Head Constable Devender, Head Constable Prashant, Head Constable Manoj Moral, Constable Ravi Prakash, and Constable Ram was constituted under the leadership of Inspector Ram Kumar, I/C AATS/SWD, and under the close supervision of Sanghamitra, ACP/Operations, South-West District, to identify and apprehend auto lifters operating in Delhi-NCR.

The team visited various crime spots, analysed CCTV footage, collected technical and manual intelligence, and developed specific information regarding the activities of vehicle thieves active in Delhi-NCR.

On February 3, acting on specific secret information, the team laid a trap near Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka. At about 7:00 a.m., a Hyundai Creta was seen approaching from Aruna Asif Ali Road towards Baba Gangnath Marg. On the identification of the secret informer, the police team signalled the driver to stop. However, the driver attempted to flee by speeding away.

The police team successfully intercepted the vehicle with the help of barricades and apprehended the driver, who was identified as Asim alias Hasim alias Diwana, a resident of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, aged 35 years.

During verification, the vehicle was found displaying fake registration number plates. Further verification revealed the actual registration number of the vehicle, which was found to be stolen in E-FIR No. 000493/2026 registered at Police Station Model Town, Delhi.

Accordingly, FIR No. 44/2026 dated February 3, under Sections 317(2) and 345(3) of the BNS, was registered at Police Station Kishangarh, South-West District. The stolen vehicle, along with the fake number plates, was seized.

Further investigation led to the arrest of other gang members, namely Riyazuddin, Kuldeep Verma, Arif, Satish Kumar Pal, and receivers of stolen vehicles identified as Fajar, Mehmood Khan, and Ujer Qureshi.

During sustained interrogation and subsequent investigation, it was revealed that the accused persons were members of an organised inter-state vehicle theft syndicate. The gang used to steal vehicles from different parts of Delhi-NCR using duplicate keys and electronic devices. After committing thefts, the vehicles were either sold using forged identities and fake registration numbers or dismantled and sold in parts through receivers associated with the syndicate.

Police recovered two stolen Hyundai Creta cars, two stolen Maruti Baleno cars, two stolen Maruti Swift cars, one stolen Maruti WagonR car, one stolen Hyundai i20 car, one stolen Hyundai Exter car, and one stolen motorcycle. Additionally, 18 pairs of fake number plates, 21 remote keys used for preparing duplicate vehicle keys, and two tool kits containing one OBD scanner, two screwdrivers, two drill machines, two LN keys, and one door lock set were recovered.

The operation led to the detection of FIR No. 44/2026 registered at Police Station Kishangarh and nine other vehicle theft cases registered at Police Station Model Town, Police Station Amar Colony, Police Station Hazrat Nizamuddin, Police Station Mehrauli, Police Station Punjabi Bagh, Police Station North Avenue, Police Station Prashant Vihar, and Police Station K.N. Katju Marg in Delhi.

Further investigation into the case is in progress.

–IANS

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