With the arrest of three persons, Police today claimed to have busted a gang which used to steal battery-operated rickshaws from Delhi and sell them in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
The accused, identified as Ashraf, Anwar and Shahid were arrested on Sunday, and six e-rickshaws, three pick-up vans, nine batteries of e-rickshaws, two scootys and two motorcycles have been recovered from them, police said.
"They are members of Guddu Gang who is a notorious criminal and has been previously involved in many cases along with his brother Saboo," said a police official.
On Sunday, one Mohini Bala lodged a complaint that her battery-operated rickshaw was stolen. Acting on her complaint, a case was registered and police began investigation.
When two policemen along with one Ganesh, driver of the complainant, were searching for the vehicle in Mukherjee Nagar area, they saw three suspicious looking persons trying to upload a battery rickshaw into a pick-up truck, he said.
On seeing the police, they tried to escape but Ashraf and Anwar were arrested after a brief chase while the third accused namely Sabbu managed to escape from the spot, police said.
"The duo disclosed that they have stolen 10-12 battery e-rickshaws from Mukherjee Nagar and other parts of Delhi on the direction of Guddu and Saboo and shifted the stolen rickshaws to Rampur," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) N Gnanasambandan.
At the instance of Anwar, police reached at Nashbandi Colony in Loni in Uttar Pradesh and recovered an e-rickshaw from Guddu's house loaded in a pick-up truck and was to be sent to Rampur.
Following raid by a team on the godown and plot of Guddu at Rampur, police recovered four e-rickshaws, nine batteries of e-rickshaws along with four battery chargers and one Tata Pick-up.
Thereafter, a raid was conducted at the house of Guddu in Nashbandi Colony in Loni, UP, where another accused namely Shahid was arrested while he was shifting the stolen vehicles from the house of Guddu and two scooty and two motorcycles were also recovered, police said.
