NEW DELHI: A day after a car thief was shot dead and his associate caught near Vivek Vihar in east Delhi, a probe revealed that the men came to Delhi on June 1 and were camping near Sarai Kale Khan.
The accused had orders for three
Fortuner cars, which they stole from different areas in the city. They had parked the cars on empty stretches and planned to drive them out on Monday for delivery. Police are now looking for the rest of the gang members, who they suspect may have fled to UP or Haryana.
The deceased, Noor Mohammad, was found to be part of an autolifting syndicate running from north India. The gang took orders from used-car dealers in north-east. The dealers used to tell them about the customer demands, which were mostly specific — mentioning the colour of the car and its interiors. The gang would then look for such vehicles. Noor’s associate Ravi could slip into any vehicle by breaking the glass pane and connecting a laptop to the ECM unit.
During interrogation, Ravi told police that three such vehicles were stolen from west and
south Delhi and parked at different places — mostly at parking lots or near metro stations. After parking the cars, the men would change the number plates so that the local cops could not identify the stolen vehicle. A plastic cover was usually placed on the vehicle to avoid detection. The vehicles too would be parked at parking lots or near metro stations.
Ravi told cops that he used to work as a mechanic with a vehicle repair shop and was roped-in by Noor, who offered him money from the sale proceeds.
(Representative image)