80 cases of thefts from cars solved

The Gurugram police on Monday claimed to have worked out over 80 cases of snatching and theft from parked cars with the arrest of five persons, including two receivers of stolen property, in two different cases. All five belong to Madangir in Delhi.

Thee police claimed to have recovered 25 stolen laptops, and seized a car and motorcycle allegedly used by the accused.

The accused in the first case allegedly told the police that they mostly stole cash from cars before demonetisation but took to stealing laptops after the note ban as they did not find cash inside vehicles. Two of the accused, Bhola (24) and Sanjay (22), were arrested by the anti-snatching staff of Crime Branch-10, led by Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar, on April 22 at an amusement park in Noida. They were taken on 10-day police remand.

During interrogation, the duo purportedly disclosed the name of their associate Rakesh (34), who was arrested on charges of buying stolen laptops from the duo.

Modus operandi

Bhola and Sanjay purportedly told the police that they would break windows of cars parked in isolated areas with a catapult and make off with laptops and other valuables. The police claimed to have recovered over a dozen stolen laptops, purses, cash and an iPad at their instance. A motorcycle used by them was seized.

A separate team of the anti-snatching staff arrested Sanju (22) and jeweller Rajesh Kumar (46) on April 28. Sanju told the police that he would come to Gurugram either with accomplices or alone to commit thefts.

He allegedly confessed to his involvement in several dozens cases of theft.