The Delhi Police has arrested a 28-year-old member of battery thieves gang active in the national Capital. Police have also recovered 101 batteries from the possession of the accused. The accused has been identified as Aftab, a resident of Mandawali area in east Delhi.

According to Chinmoy Biswal, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South-east district, earlier in March this year, five members of the gang identified as Sohail, Sahne Alam, Imran, Sahzad and Jameel  Ahmed were arrested by a team of Badarpur police station for allegedly stealing batteries from vehicles in South East Delhi.

“With their arrest, 21 cases were solved and 76 stolen batteries were recovered. During interrogation,  the accused Sahne Alam revealed the name of one of his accomplice Aftab, who would help them to carry stolen batteries in car,” said the DCP.

“On November 25, after receiving specific inputs, Aftab was arrested. During search of his vehicle police recovered 90 stolen car batteries. During investigation 11 more batteries were also recovered on his instance,” said the DCP.

“During interrogation, the accused revealed that he was an important member of the gang. He used to transport stolen batteries in car from the spots. He told police that he could drive his swift car at the speed of 150 km/hour after loading it fully with stolen batteries,” said the DCP.

“The accused further told the police that after arrest of his gang members, he started to commit theft alone. When police had arrested his accomplices and seized his Santro Car, he purchased a second hand Swift Car to conduct recce and transport the stolen batteries,” said the DCP.

“Aftab used to target the cars parked on the road side. He used to steal 20-25 batteries per night and sell them at a cost of Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 each to different junk dealers in Gaziabad, Hapur and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh),” said the DCP.