Gang of car thieves busted

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 24

The police today claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of thieves and recovered 35 luxury vehicles. Seven persons have been booked in the case.

They are Tejinder Singh of New Model Town, Chheharta, Surjit Singh of Majitha village, a low-ranked BJP leader, Shiv Pandit Shukla of Adarsh Nagar, Islamabad, Simranjit Singh of Kamla Avenue, Vipin Kumar of Yaseen Road, Head Constable Rashpal Singh and a clerk with the local District Transport office Amritpal Singh of Ranjit Avenue.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said the gang would steal luxury vehicles from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana with the help of their accomplices in Delhi and sell these to clients in Amritsar,Tarn Taran and other parts of Punjab on forged documents. The police, he said, had confiscated narcotic powder found in Amritpal's possession.

Thirtyfive vehicles, including two Toyota Fortuner, two Toyota Innova, three Tata Safari, three Skoda, eight Hyundai Verna, two Hyundai i-20, four Honda City, two Tata Indigo, four Maruti Suzuki Swift and a Polo, Verito, Mohindra Bolero, Tata and Endeavor each had been recovered. These vehicles, Aulakh said, had been recovered from customers who did not know that these had been stolen.

HS Brar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, heading the investigating team, said unsuspecting clients would place their demand with Rashpal Singh, who would approach his accomplices in Delhi.The latter would forge documents and supply stolen vehicles to Rashpal who would sell these to his clients. Brar said more vehicles were likely to be recovered during the course of investigation.