Inter-state car theft racket busted, 4 held

Kolkata: The Bidhannagar City Police have busted an inter-state car theft racket and arrested four persons. The police have also recovered three high-end stolen cars that were brought to Bengal.

On December 3, cops grew suspicious of a man, identified as Md. Salauddin of Maheshtala in Salua area, while patrolling. When he was intercepted, police found that he was waiting for someone with a high end SUV. During interrogation, he had apparently confessed that the car was stolen from some other state and he was there to hand over the car to another racketeer.

Immediately, he was taken to Airport police station and a case was registered against him and few others. Based on Salauddin's statement, police nabbed another man, identified as Naushad Saikh of Maheshtala, and recovered two more high end SUVs. Both the men were produced before the Barrackpore ACJM Court and were taken into police custody.

After interrogating the duo, police on Tuesday night conducted a raid near Airport gate number 1 on VIP Road and nabbed two more accused, identified as Md. Jamil and Md Gufran of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. They were produced before the Barrackpore ACJM Court on Wednesday and remanded in police custody for seven days. Sources informed that the racketeers used to tamper the engine and chassis numbers and change number plates of the stolen cars. Later, those cars were sold at higher prices. Police are contacting the manufacturers of the seized cars to find out the original engine and chassis number to trace the owners.