Panipat police bust interstate gang of vehicle lifters, 1 held

The Panipat police on Sunday claimed to have busted an interstate vehicle theft gang and arrested an accused for allegedly stealing 20 cars, including 18 from Delhi.

Deputy superintendent of police Rajbir Singh said that a team under Anti-Vehicle Theft Cell in-charge sub-inspector Rohtash arrested Asim Khan, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, from Sonepat last Monday.

“During the preliminary interrogation, the accused had confessed that he along with his co-accused Ajay Kumar, Sudeep Dhankhar and Gaurav Kumar from Sonepat, Majid and Rizwan from Meerut had committed the crime of stealing a Fortuner from outside a house in Model Town in Panipat on the night of February 5. The absconding accused Ajay, who is a part of the gang, is posted as a constable in Delhi Police. A case was registered on the complaint of Karan Taluja, resident of Model Town, regarding the theft,” he added.

The DSP said that the police team interrogated the accused after taking him on 5-day police remand, during which he also confessed that he along with his co-accused had committed the crime of stealing another Hyundai Venue car from near Deshwal Chowk in Panipat and 18 cars from different places in Delhi.

Modus operandi

“Interrogation of the accused revealed that all the accused of the gang used to go out in a car at night and search for luxury cars in sectors and colonies. Wherever the accused saw a luxury car parked outside a house, they would first do a recce of the area. After this, they would break the glass of the driver’s side of the car with a screwdriver and start the car with the help of software in the tab and steal it. The accused then used to go in the stolen car to carry out the crime,” he said.