Chandigarh police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an interstate gang of auto lifters from Paddy Mandi in Sector-39 and recovered 18 vehicles. The gang, including five arrested, were involved in stealing vehicles of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and also Chandigarh.
Police identified the accused as Parveen Kumar resident of Sonipat who is the kingpin of the gang, Shamsher Singh, resident of Rohtak, Shahnawaj, Irfan and Asim all residents of Meerut (UP).
SSP Naunihal Singh said that accused Parveen Kumar, with the help of other gang members, used to steal vehicles from different cities and sold them after changing their engine and chassis numbers.
He said that on verification, six vehicles were found to be stolen from Chandigarh, two from Delhi and two from Uttrakhand and Samrala (Punjab) by the gang.
The gang used to target small cars like ; Alto and Indica which were sold easily. After stealing the cars from the region and further making modifications, they used to sell them in the regions of Eastern UP, Bihar, Central and Eastern India, Naunihal Singh confirmed.
The prime accused in the case Parveen Kumar had been earlier arrested in 12 cases of vehicle theft registered with various police stations of Chandigarh. Besides, he was also arrested in 15 cases of robbery, NDPS Act, Arms Act & vehicle theft in Banaras, Delhi, Nabha.
Efforts are being made to arrest other associates of this gang, meanwhile a case has been registered against the gang members and have been sent on police remand till 7 April, says the SSP.