A man named Mohammad Anas alias Haji, who fought the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2022, was arrested after he was found to be a member of an auto-theft gang in Delhi. An Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) team from South West Delhi busted the group and arrested six members, including Anas.
Anas fought the elections on the Chandrashekhar Azad-led Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) ticket from Meerut's Kithor Assembly seat, Times of India reported quoting DCP Rohit Meena. The group would buy stolen vehicles from Delhi and then sell them off to the gang leader Guddu at double the price, police said. Anas would sell the stolen vehicles in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar areas of Uttar Pradesh.
Five stolen luxury cars including a Toyota Fortuner, a Swift Dzire and three Maruti Brezza SUVs, were recovered from them in an operation that lasted 15 days. They had a special app to communicate with the gang members. Anas got 870 votes from the Kithore Assembly constituency, which was won by Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kushal Pal Mavi.
Last week, the Delhi Police busted a gang of auto lifters who stole high-end vehicles in the national capital. The accused, Istiyak, was previously involved in more than 95 cases of auto-lifting, theft, Arms Act, attempt to murder, and MCOCA case. A search of the recovered vehicle revealed that several tools were used for breaking into cars, including a wire cutter, screwdriver, nippers, three dummy car keys, and a broken lock from another high-end vehicle. The suspect used to communicate with his associates via a mobile application.
Police recovered the cars which were found stolen from police stations in Tilak Nagar, Vikaspuri, Punjabi Bagh, Saket and Teelamod, and Ghaziabad. Police have formed a specialised project team comprising personnel from various West District police stations to focus on tracing auto thieves and recovering stolen vehicles.