Four men, including suspended constable from the Manipur police, have been arrested by the South District Police for selling stolen cars after they registered them with the State transport authorities. Apart from the recovery of high end stolen cars like one BMW, two Fortuner and other cars, police have also recovered eight country made pistols.
Romil Baaniya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) said, "We have arrested Akser Ahmed (34), Mohd Fakruddin (31), Sorokhaibam Chorijit Singh (25), Abdul Gaffar Khan (34). While Ahmed holds a degree in MBA, Mohd Fakruddin was a constable in the Manipur Police. He was suspended after he was found to be involved in cases of auto-lifting."
He said, "The operation was conducted by a team of Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS). Eight country-made pistols with 16 live cartridges along with 16 stolen vehicles including one BMW car, two Fortuner cars, five Creta cars, two Honda City cars, one Honda Accord car, one Chevrolet Cruze Car, one Hyundai i-10 Car, two Bullet Motorcycles and one Avenger motorcycle have been recovered from their possession."
Police said in a bid to crack the cases of auto lifting, the Anti Auto Theft Squad on March 27 received a tip off that members of this gang would come to the approach road adjacent to drainage between Sector 5 and Sector 6 in Pushp Vihar area in Saket. Inputs were also received that the men will go towards Mehrauli Badarpur Road to deliver a consignment of arms and ammunitions to their associates.
"On this, a trap was laid in Pushp Vihar and the team started stringent checking of vehicles in the area. Around 8:45 pm, a Honda City car was seen approaching. Spotting suspicious movements by the occupants of car, it was intercepted and driver was overpowered. During search, five country-made pistols and eight live cartridges were recovered. The vehicle was also found stolen. Identity of accused was revealed as Akser," said Baaniya.
During sustained interrogation, he confessed that he has already transported more than 50 stolen cars in Manipur. He further confessed that, after preparing forged documents he managed to register these vehicles afresh in different District Transport Officer (DTO) office in Manipur, police said.
"At his instance police recovered five Creta cars and one Chevrolet Cruze car, all having registration certificates issued from different transport offices in Manipur and two Fortuner cars were recovered from Imphal. Further, one Hyundai I-10 Car, one BMW Seven Series, one Honda City and one Honda Accord car was recovered from Kotla Mubarakpur in Delhi," the DCP said. Later on April 8, other members of the syndicate were arrested from Kotla Mubarakpur area, he added.