Four members of inter-state auto-lifter gang arrested, say police

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Four members of a suspected inter-state auto-lifter gang, including its leader, were arrested, police said on Monday. The accused were identified as Sariq Sata (47), Furkan Sheikh (40), Sageer Ahmed (34), Sikender (28) and Sariq, they added. With these arrests, seven members of the gang were nabbed and 51 stolen vehicles recovered from their possession, the police said.

Sata, the alleged kingpin of the gang had 43 cases registered against him, a senior police officer said, adding that he was carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his arrest by the Delhi Police and Rs 20,000 by the Sambhal police. In all, seven members of the gang were arrested so far and 51 stolen vehicles recovered, the officer said. Earlier, three members of the gang -- Kalia alias Safruddin, Tirath and Naveen -- were arrested, he added. During interrogation, they had disclosed that Sata was the kingpin of the gang and since 2012, he, along with his associates Sageer, Sikander and others, was involved in stealing luxury cars in Delhi-NCR.

The accused used to sell the stolen vehicles in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai and the north-eastern states, Rajesh Deo, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime), said. Safar, Sikander, Sageer and Naveen used to steal the vehicles, whereas Furkan worked on the engine and chassis number and forged documents to get the stolen vehicles re-registered. Sata and Tirath then used to sell the vehicles, the DCP said. During investigation, the police found that prior to stealing a vehicle, the accused used to trace a car declared as a "total loss vehicle" by an insurance company.

Such vehicles were then purchased by them through scrap dealers, the DCP added. Subsequently, while the total loss vehicles were disposed of, the documents were retained. The accused then used to target a vehicle of the same make and colour and steal it, he said. After stealing the vehicle, they used to remove the original engine and chassis numbers and inscribe the engine and chassis numbers of the total loss vehicle in their place, the officer said.

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