Man held for stealing cars from posh colonies across NCR

A man who allegedly stole cars after swiping keys from cleaners and security guards outside houses in posh colonies across the Delhi-National Capital Region was arrested on Tuesday, the police said on Wednesday.

A senior police officer said, “Accused Pramod Kumar and his accomplices have stolen more than 100 cars from posh colonies in Delhi-NCR. They disposed of the stolen vehicles in western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.”

Modus operandi

Explaining the modus operandi, the officer said one cleaner is employed to clean seven to eight vehicles in a colony and that man usually keeps the car keys on top of the vehicles during the process.

“While the cleaner would be busy cleaning other cars, the accused would replace the keys after locking the vehicle. The locked vehicle would fool the cleaner into thinking that the car had been cleaned. However, the owner would be unable to open the car with the fake key and forced to use the duplicate set,” said the officer.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said the gang members would keep a close watch on the owner’s movements and steal the car when he or she parked it elsewhere.

“Pramod and his accomplices would wait for the owner to park the car somewhere else and then steal it using the key they had stolen earlier,” said Mr. Kumar.

After receiving a few complaints, a Crime Branch team started gathering intelligence on the accused. Last week, the police received a tip-off regarding the arrival of a gang member to Najafgarh.

Cars recovered

“He was spotted near the Delhi Jal Board office at Kakrola. The accused was asked to surrender by the police but tried to flee after firing at them. However, he was overpowered and his countrymade pistol snatched,” said Mr. Kumar. Nine stolen vehicles, including an SUV, a sedan and a hatchback, recovered following Pramod’s arrest, he added.