A 35-year-old inveterate auto thief who underwent plastic surgery to hide his identity from police had his luck run out last week. Wanted in 62 cases of vehicle thefts in Delhi-NCR, Tanuj, who had been leaving in disguise as Kunal after acquiring a new face, was arrested from Nehru Place in South-East Delhi on October 13, police informed the media on Sunday. Two of his accomplices too were nabbed later.
With the arrest of Kunal — who was declared a proclaimed offender by the Delhi Police five years ago — the South-East district Police claimed to have busted a gang involved in stealing high-end cars. “For close to eight months, the district team has been working on to nab the auto-lifters. local intelligence, along with technical surveillance, led to the arrest of Kunal,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya.
He said, “A team from Kalkaji police station received a tip-off about an auto-lifter. The team laid a trap near Eros Hotel in Nehru Place. At 11.40am, a police team asked an i20 car to stop. As it came near the police barricade, its driver started running away. But the police team managed to overpower him. On enquiry, he was identified as Kunal, alias Tanuj, alias Vijay, alias Raju,”
Kunal’s interrogation led to to the arrest of his two accomplices: Irshad Ali as well as Mohammad Shadab, who used to buy stolen cars from him, police said. Shadab is an expert in tampering with the engine and chassis numbers. Kunal used to sell stolen cars to Irshad in Muzafarnagar, and Shadab in Ghaziabad.
The DCP said, “His (Kunal’s) main motive to enter into auto-lifting was to bear expenses of his girlfriends and himself. The gang operated at three levels.
“First group consisted of men who actually stole cars, second group tampered with the engine and chassis numbers and also procured documents for the stolen cars, and the third group included car dealers who sold these cars as genuine vehicles.”