A car thief, out on bail in a multiple murder case has been arrested here for allegedly stealing around two dozen motor vehicles, police said today.
The accused, Nawab Warsi (47), a native of Uttarakhand, in the past has been arrested in more than 18 cases of armed robbery and motor vehicle thefts in Delhi and some other states, they said.
"In 2010, he was arrested in a murder case in Bulandshahr, in which he had burnt alive a rival and his three associates in a car suspecting the four of tipping him off to the police.
"But he came out on bail in November last year and formed a gang and started stealing luxurious vehicles," a senior police official said.
Warsi has been arrested this time for stealing around two dozen motor vehicles police said.
"Warsi and his gang would tamper with the chassis number and engine number of the stolen vehicles before selling them on forged documents," the official said.
Three other persons, allegedly the receivers of those stolen vehicles, have also been nabbed. A total of 16 stolen vehicles, including the likes of Tata Safari, Toyota Innova, Hyundai Verna, Toyota Fortuner and Pajero have been recovered at their instance.
In order to curb incidents of auto lifting in south district, police had identified some points and deployed their teams.
They received a tip-off about the accused coming to R K Puram area in a stolen vehicle and spotted Warsi in a Tata Safari car. When inquired about the car papers, Warshi was unable to produce the documents of the vehicle. Upon verification, it emerged that the car was stolen.
During interrogation, Warsi said that he and his gang would target high-end vehicles from Delhi and get their chassis numbers changed in UP's Meerut and disposed them in the market on higher prices, police said.
Police subsequently conducted several raids in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and recovered 14 cars and two trucks which were all stolen from Delhi.
