The crime branch of the UT police has arrested a 27-year-old notorious vehicle thief, Harpreet Singh, alias Smarty, who has 42 cases against him, and his six accomplices. Thirteen vehicles — eight cars and five two-wheelers — have been recovered from them.
A team, led by Inspector Amanjot Singh, in-charge of the crime branch, arrested Harpreet Singh, a resident of Zirakpur, Inderjit Singh, alias Ricky (27) a resident of Ropar, Virender Pal Singh (30), a resident of Karnal, Javed Akhtar (48) and Abdul Aziz (59), both residents of Meerut, and Dilawar (59) and Mohammad Asif (40), both residents of Delhi.
DSP (Crime) Pawan Kumar said all suspects were involved in vehicle thefts in Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
The accused used to steal vehicles and sell these to scrap dealers Javed Akhtar and Abdul Aziz, who used to affix fake chassis and engine numbers on the vehicles, which were further sold to gullible people, who were unaware that the vehicles were stolen.
“Virender, a bank employee, used to look for customers to sell the stolen vehicles,” the DSP said.
While Harpreet has 42 cases of vehicle thefts registered against him in Chandigarh and other states, Dilawar has 10 cases against him.
All suspects have been sent to judicial custody.
