Car-lifting gang busted in Delhi

Four members of a car-lifting gang have been arrested here for their involvement in stealing high-end cars, police said on Tuesday.

Police said the gang members were inspired by a video game 'Grand Theft Auto' (GTA) and followed the 'techniques' seen in the game .

The kingpin, identified as Lakshay Shokeen, and his aide Deepak were arrested on Monday night from Mangolpuri area of outer Delhi, while their two juvenile associates were arrested from Sector-18 of Dwarka in south Delhi, Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Ravindra Yadav said.

"The gang members used a baseball bat to attack the drivers before fleeing in their cars. They first rammed the vehicles and created road rage-like scenario. They were fond of driving and racing with high-end cars on highways," Yadav said.

Of the four gang-members, two are juveniles. They used to target luxury cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) occupied by single driver during the night. They wanted to sell the snatched cars to get easy money, police said.

On February 9, the gang had looted a Toyota Fortuner from Model Town locality after its owner, who was driving the car, was hit on his head with a baseball bat. The victim is currently battling for life in hospital, JCP Yadav said.

--IANS

sp/pgh/dg