To repay his debts, 32-year-old Shailesh Kumar Yadav, a driver, who was earlier associated with cab aggregator Uber, used to steal tyres from cars in posh areas of East Delhi at night.
He targeted car tyres, thinking that owners will not approach police since “it’s just a tyre.” He mainly operated in Mayur Vihar, Vasundhara Enclave, Noida and areas of Southeast and East Delhi at night.
However, his presumption proved wrong as he, along with his accomplice Satender Kumar, was arrested by police on Thursday night.
During interrogation, Shailesh, a resident of Noida's Bakhtawarpur village (in Uttar Pradesh) told the police that since he left the job with Uber six months against, he was burdened with debts. To pay off the debts, he resorted to stealing of tyres.
“The stolen tyres, which cost around Rs 2,000, were sold to Mohit Kumar, which runs a tyre repair shop in Noida, at Rs 400,” said an officer.
Omvir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) said they came to know about the tyre theft when a police team under ACP Kalyanpuri Anand Kumar Mishra received a tip-off about two auto-lifters and arrested them from outside Dharamshila hospital.
During interrogation, they told police that they stole tyres and used to supply them to Mohit Kumar in Noida who would sell these tyres to transporters. Police later arrested Mohit Kumar from his puncture shop.
Mohit Kumar, 22, and Satender Kumar, 30, are residents of Delhi's New Ashok Nagar and Trilokpuri respectively, said the police