Police bust inter-State network of luxury car thieves; 12 stolen SUVs recovered

The Delhi Police has busted an inter-state network involved in purchasing and selling stolen luxury vehicles, arresting two alleged dealers from Punjab and Rajasthan and recovering 12 high-end cars with forged registration documents and tampered identification numbers, an officer said on Sunday.

According to police, the accused purchased stolen luxury vehicles for around Rs 4-5 lakh, change their chassis and engine numbers, prepared forged registration certificates and sold them as genuine vehicles in Punjab and Rajasthan.

The accused have been identified as Gurwinder Singh Bainka (37), a resident of Tarn Taran in Punjab, and Dashrath Bishnoi (36), a resident of Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Police said a Crime Branch team launched an operation to curb the increase in luxury vehicle theft in Delhi.

The team analysed theft patterns, CCTV footage, and intelligence inputs, which indicated a network based in Punjab was procuring stolen vehicles from Delhi and disposing of them in Punjab and Rajasthan.

“The breakthrough came during the investigation of an auto theft case registered at Prashant Vihar police station when the team, acting on a tip-off on June 7, apprehended Gurwinder Singh Bainka from an MCD parking area behind a hotel in East Delhi,” the officer said.

Police recovered a stolen Hyundai Creta, bearing a fake registration number, from his possession and seized a forged registration certificate.

Verification revealed that the SUV was stolen in a case registered at Prashant Vihar police station.

During interrogation, Bainka disclosed that he received stolen luxury vehicles, including Hyundai Creta, Toyota Fortuner, Mahindra Thar and Kia models, from suppliers and sold them in Punjab, particularly in Amritsar, Ludhiana and other border districts.

Based on his disclosures, teams conducted raids in Punjab and recovered several more stolen vehicles.

Further investigation led police to Dashrath Bishnoi, who was apprehended in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan.

“He was later arrested and taken into custody, following which additional recoveries were made,” the officer said. Police suspect the gang dealt in 15 to 20 stolen luxury vehicles using the same modus operandi. 

The recovered vehicles include multiple Hyundai Creta, Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Innova Crysta, Toyota Innova, Hyundai Alcazar, Tata Harrier, Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Swift Dzire and Toyota Yaris. 

Several recovered vehicles had forged number plates, while some lacked registration plates.