Afghan gang targetting carpet-dealers held

With the arrest of three persons, the police have busted a gang of burglars of Afghanistan-origin, who operated around Lajpat Nagar and nearby areas in South-east Delhi, police said on Saturday.

The accused were identified as Atiqullah (43), Shal Mohammad (33) and Zabihullah (29). As many as 39 expensive Kashmiri carpets were also recovered from their possession, said Mandeep Singh Randhawa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-east). “The three are connected and had come to India on tourist VISA in March 2015. They had planned to steal costly carpets and ship those to UAE or Afganistan,” said Randhawa.

The investigation, which reportedly took place at a carpet go-down in Lajpat Nagar on the intervening night between April 7 and 8 led the police to the trio. In this incident alone, the trio had allegedly stolen carpets worth crores. During investigation, the police team examined other carpet dealers in the locality and it was revealed that a couple of days prior to the incident, some Afghan nationals had come to the shop of the complainant on the pretext of selling some carpets. Their activities appeared suspicious. 

The CCTV footage of the area was examined and the team zeroed in on the trio. Several raids were conducted at their suspected hideouts in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai. Look-out Notices were also issued and alerts were sent to all airports. Finally, the three were nabbed from Hauz Rani, said police.

They told the police that they took the carpets to Jaipur and Mumbai to find customers but in vain. They were planning to ship these carpets to UAE and Afghanistan for disposal, police added.