Gang of thieves busted, 4 held

Four members of a gang of thieves have been arrested for allegedly stealing articles worth Rs three crore from godowns in Delhi, police said today.

On December 23, a burglary was reported from a godown in Rangpuri, Mahipalpur, the locality which houses several other godowns owned by big business houses. Dheeraj Aneja had alleged that 454 branded LED TVs had been burgled from his godown.

A case was registered and the examination of the spot revealed that new locks were placed at the godown while the original locks were missing.

"The stolen goods had been transported in two different trucks," DCP(South) Ishwar Singh said.
 

"The only tangible clue available to police came from the analysis of the footage of a CCTV camera installed near the crime spot.

"The truck in which the stolen goods were transported had a hazy mark resembling three capital letters in English denoting the acronym of the probable transport company," he said.

The footage was developed and enhanced forensically which revealed the possible letters to be 'VTS'. The records transport company operating in Delhi were solicited.

"Many transport companies using the abbreviation of VTS came on record. This process involved the examination of over 200 persons. The relevant transporter was zeroed in from the area of Mongolpuri, Delhi," the officer said.

The burgled articles had been transported to Patna by the accused using logistic services.

The trail went to Bihar-Nepal border. A gang of godown busters were identified who used to target godowns in and around Delhi and take the goods to Bihar and onwards to the grey markets of Nepal.

Several probable hideouts were raided and detailed profiling of the suspects was carried out.

The profiling established that the burglars were residents of Champaran district in Bihar and had committed a spate of burglaries in Delhi-NCR.

"They specialised in burgling large godowns and storehouses located in north-west, Rohini, outer, west and south districts of Delhi.

"The accused, Ashok Kumar alias Pappu, Ashok Kumar Malhotra, Akhilesh Kumar and Jeet Kumar were arrested from Delhi, Patna and Vaishali in Bihar respectively," he added.

During interrogation, the accused told police that after a recce of the target godown and enquiring about the wares being stored there, the gang members prepared fake papers purporting ownership of the goods they intended to steal, Singh said.

"Following the reccee, the original locks of the godown were broken in a way that caused minimal damage. The accused then locked the godown with their own genuine locks," he said.

This followed requisition of a transporter and logistics service provider.

"When the transporters' labour arrived at the scene, the accused posed as the owners of the godown and got the goods loaded.

"For the logistics provider, fake papers purportedly showing sale purchase bills and tax receipts etc. Of the stolen goods were more than enough to convince of a genuine transaction," he said.

In Patna, the accused had taken another warehouse through a receiver and the stolen goods crossed two states and got dumped there for onward distribution and sale in the grey markets.

The international border markets, where the stolen tgoods were sold for 30 to 50 per cent of their true value, earned the gang members a good fortune to live life lavishly.