They stole cars, waited to see if GPS led to them, then sold them off

Delhi Police have busted a gang of three thieves who would first steal a car and then park it in areas such as markets and under-construction Metro sites to check whether any GPS is installed in the vehicle or not. The accused have been identified as Sanjeev, Mohd Shahjad and Mahesh Kumar.

Talking about their modus operandi, senior police officers of the North-west district said: “After stealing the car they used to park it at different locations (parking areas, under-construction Metro stations, flats parking areas, market areas, etc) in Delhi-NCR to check whether any GPS system is installed in the vehicle. Thereafter, they called Mahesh from Aligarh to tamper the engine and chassis number of the stolen vehicle.” 

The officer further said: “Mahesh applied a unique technique to tamper with the engine and chassis numbers of the stolen vehicle in such a way that the original vehicle could hardly be distinguished from the duplicate. Mahesh used printing frame and certain chemicals like Potassium Bromide and Grinder, Emulsion, Black Ink, Transparent Papers and others tools. Later on, they supplied these vehicles with tampered engine and chassis numbers.”

On July 19, police received a complaint that a person’s Honda City has been stolen. Based on this, a case was registered and team was formed. On July 22, police received a tip-off that an auto-lifter, Sanjeev along with his associates will come in a stolen car near Shah Alam Bandh, Mukerjee Nagar. Based on this, a trap was laid and Sanjeev and Shahjad were arrested. On their instance, Mahesh was also apprehended and eight more stolen semi-luxurious cars were recovered.

During sustained interrogation, Sanjeev disclosed that he along with Shahjad and others used to steal the car from Delhi and NCR on demand made by their receivers namely Sunny, Ranjeet, Raja resident of Punjab, Soaib, Hafiz of Meerut and Mustkin of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Further investigation is on to nab the remaining accused.