3 arrested for stealing high-end vehicles

Noida: Noida police on Tuesday night arrested three persons for allegedly stealing cars in the National Capital Region (NCR). Four allegedly stolen vehicles, including a Maruti Brezza and two Honda City, were recovered from them, police said.

The prime suspect was identified as Wahid Hasan, a Meerut native who had been involved in vehicle thefts since 2005. According to police, he was often referred to as ‘doctor’ for his expertise in stealing vehicles. The other suspects were identified as Ankur, who provided fake number plates, and Shoaib, who provided the gang with pre-processed SIM cards.

Officials said that the three were nabbed from near a liquor shop in Morna, Sector 35.

“The sector 24 police had a bounty of ₹25,000 on Wahid. He was also wanted by the Delhi Police in at least seven cases. He has more than 50 cases against him in Delhi-ncr,” said Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1.

The officials said that Wahid’s phone number is registered in Saudi Arabia and the gang used internet calling features to avoid trace. “He earlier stole the cars himself but later trained other. They targeted high-end vehicles. The vehicles were sold to specific people,” said a senior police official.

He also said that Wahid kept multiple lawyers on retainership in various districts to handle his legal matters and spent more than ₹1 lakh on advocates per month for this purpose.

Police have identified at least four other people associated with the gang, one of whom sold the vehicles outside Uttar Pradesh in states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar. A search is on for the other members of the gang, said police.

Ankur ran a shop in Modinagar to make number plates which he provided to the gang, said police.