Safeeq Ahmed, 35, Mehraj Ahmed, 20, and Devender Singh, 66, were arrested yesterday following specific inputs that they would be going to Karkari More via Kasturba Nagar to dispose off a truck load of stolen iron pipes, a senior police official said.
Forty-three iron pipes (each 10 inches wide and 18 feet long) have been recovered.
"Safeeq is the kingpin of this notorious gang of thieves and he along with his associates had stolen the pipes from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh," said Sanjay Kumar Jain, DCP Crime and Railways.
They had hired a mini truck from Devender and used to recce the areas in Delhi and adjoining states during night.
They then used to steal pipes usually kept by the contractors besides the road at working sites for laying underground water or sewerage line, he said, adding that they used to sell the stolen goods to one Lovely at Karolbagh.
Besides this, Safeeq also heads a gang comprising of Sandeep, Aalam, Muzaffar, Raju, Mehraj, Naatu, Chillo, Junaid and Inayat.
Safeeq was previously involved in eight cases of theft, Arms Act of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, while Devender Singh was previously involved in a case of rash and negligent driving leading to death of a person in Shahdara area, police said.