High demand for luxury sedans and SUVs over the past Uttar Pradesh election period resulted in the brth of a new gang of robbers, who specialized in stealing brand new cars from showrooms. The gang would then head to UP where they would sell it off at dirt cheap prices.
The gang’s modus operandi was to enter company showrooms in smartly dressed attire, and request for a test drive. Once they get hold of the key and the vehicle, they would set off on a route with less traffic.
Once on the road, they will send the accompanying showroom employee out of the car on the pretext of getting bottle of water from a store. The minute the employee used to get down of the car, the thief would speed away.
A total of 5 such stolen vehicles, among which was a Fortuner, Mahindra XUV500 and a Renault Duster have been recovered from 2 men arrested. The Police recovered these vehicles while the robbers admitted to stealing these from company showrooms.
After stealing a car, the robbers would then purchase a total loss vehicle with all documents. The engine chassis number of this vehicle would be embossed on that of the stolen vehicle. The robbers would then offer these stolen vehicles at highly marked down prices. A top end Toyota Fortuner, which had only clocked 19,000 kms was sold for INR 3.5 lakh.
Crime Branch team headed by ACP Sanjay Sehrawat under supervision of DCP Madhur Verma from Dwarka area arrested 2 members of this gang of robbers. The robbers have been identified as Arif Hussain and Lakhwinder Singh. Over the past few months, the gang is said to have stolen over 40 expensive cars in this manner of which 8 have been stolen during test drives in Delhi and other areas.
