International vehicle theft racket busted in Delhi, eight arrested
Last August, when Delhi Police personnel arrested 40-year-old Taj Mohammad, a man with over 70 cases against him, they expected to solve a chain of car thefts orchestrated by him in India. But what they learnt was that the brains behind the operation was not him, but a Dubai-based controller, Amit Pasha.
On February 26, the Crime Branch arrested seven members of the Pasha's car theft gang, including car sellers and technicians. A Look-Out Circular has been issued against Pasha, said police.
Taj's interrogation led to the arrest of seven others, including Imran Khan alias Guddu (25), a technical expert skilled in bypassing ECM (engine control module) codes; Kunal Jaiswal (24) from Mumbai, a major receiver of stolen vehicles, and Akbar (40), a financier and distributor linked to buyers in northeast India. The other arrested persons are Mateen Khan (24), Nagender Singh (46), Manish Arya (48) and Nadeem (38).
The first man to be arrested was Imran, a resident of Seelampur, who used to 'decode' high-end vehicles for the gang. 'Imran played a critical role in enabling the syndicate's seamless theft operations,' DCP (Crime) Apoorva Gupta said on Friday.
The stolen vehicles were then given to a middle man, UP resident Mateen Khan, who would supply the vehicles to 'sellers' in multiple cities across India. 'He supplied these cars to sellers such as Kunal Jaiswal and others in cities like Vadodara, Hyderabad, and Mumbai… Kunal facilitated the resale of stolen cars in major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nasik. Kunal admitted to purchasing multiple stolen vehicles from Mateen,' said Gupta.
In between came the transporters, supplying these vehicles from Mateen to various buyers. Nagender Manish, and Nadeem would transport these vehicles to multiple areas, said police.
Pasha's main financier in India was Akbar, whom Pasha gave money to fund the operation, said police. 'He coordinated the delivery of stolen vehicles to buyers in Northeast India and West Bengal on instructions from Amir Pasha,' said Gupta.
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