Two alleged auto-lifters arrested

Two alleged auto-lifters who were active in the national capital have been arrested and 12 stolen vehicles, including luxury cars have been recovered from them, police said today.
The two accused, identified as Saqib alias Shakir (29) and Pawan alias Jagga (57) were arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police following a tip off.
Police have recovered two Innova, two Swift, two Alto, three Indigo, a Beat, a Santro and a motorcycle from them. Police has claimed to have solved six cases of auto-lifting with their arrest.
"They had a very interesting modus operandi. Both of them used to procure total loss/damaged cars from different insurance Companies.

"Thereafter, they used to steal cars of the same model and company following which they tampered engine and chassis numbers of the stolen cars as per the papers of damaged/total loss car and sold the robbed vehicle as genuine. They used to dispose off the stolen cars in UP, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ashok Chand.
Saqib has been previously is involved in about 15 criminal cases of auto theft while Pawan has been involved in around seven such cases.