For the residents of north Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, the automobile repair shop in their neighbourhood was no more than what it appeared to be — it was listed as such on services portals and on search engines as place to fix vehicle dents.

On Monday, when a Delhi Police team raided the shop, they found it was no repair store, but a place where stolen cars were brought and their registration/chassis numbers changed.

The Delhi Police crime branch has registered a case and arrested Sandeep Yadav, the car mechanic, while he was tampering with the chassis and registration numbers of a stolen Toyota Fortuner SUV.

According to an investigating officer, who did not wish to be named, on Monday evening, an officer of the crime branch received information about an automobile repair store where stolen cars were kept.

Police suspect that Yadav and his accomplices, who have been active for the last three years, may have changed the chassis number more than a hundred vehicles.

A police team reached the store and found the main gate closed.

Later, residents told them about a rear entry, through which they entered the shop and found Sandeep working on a Toyota Fortuner.

“Initially, Sandeep claimed to be a mechanic but when we checked the details of the Fortuner, we found it was stolen. He later revealed that he condemned vehicles to the workshop and used their chassis or registration number on stolen vehicles. We learned that the Fortuner was stolen from Maurya Enclave area four days ago. Once the chassis and the registration numbers were changed, they would sell the car within the National Capital Region. To make their shop appear legit, they would sometimes repair cars of residents in the area,” an investigating officer said.

The police officer refused to share more details and said police are conducting raids across the city to identify suspect Sandeep’s accomplices in the case.

According to the details of Sandeep’s repair store listed on prominent internet search engine – the shop is a top player in the category of Car Denting Services in Delhi.

Claiming to be a well-known establishment, the store projected itself a one-stop destination servicing customers both local and from other parts of Delhi.

First Published: Jun 06, 2019 03:50 IST