Senior ITBP cop’s stolen SUV found, blows lid off Bengal-NCR syndicate

Noida: A beacon-fitted SUV stolen from outside the residence of a senior police officer before Republic Day this year has been found with a forged West Bengal number plate, leading cops to an organised vehicle theft syndicate with its nodes as far away as Siliguri in north Bengal and a lawyer specialised in forging papers as one of its members.
The theft of the SUV, a white Safari assigned to Indo-Tibetan Border Police IG Anand Swarup, had triggered a pan-NCR alert in the run-up to Republic Day.The security establishment was particularly jittery because an official vehicle had been used in the Pathankot air base attack days ago.
As it turns out, Swarup's SUV was stolen by an inter-state gang that parked it in UP's Sambhal district as the thieves bided time before forging papers to smuggle it to Siliguri and from there to a buyer in the northeast or Bengal. Police said "orders" for vehicles were placed by Bengal-based gang members for markets in Assam, Nagaland, Bihar and Bengal.
Seven people were arrested by Noida police for stealing Swarup's car. They were snared near a petrol pump in Noida Phase-III on April 14 after police received a tip-off. Two other cars, which were also being smuggled to Bengal, were seized.
The arrests show how vehicle theft gangs operating in the NCR have formed themselves into organised syndicates to tap grey markets in various parts of the country. Vehicle thefts are rampant in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.
If the numbers are broken down, the capital witnesses a vehicle theft every 13 minutes, which has remained a huge challenge for the police.
The arrested thieves have been identified as Dinesh, Deepak, Raju, Rajveer, Praveen Barman, Manatosh Sarkar and Deepankar Sarkar, the lawyer. Dinesh, Deepak and Raju are from Ghaziabad while Manatosh, Praveen and Deepankar are from Bengal. Rajveer is from Vinod Nagar in east Delhi.
Gautam Budh Nagar police chief Kiran S said, "Praveen, Manatosh and Deepankar placed orders for the cars with Dinesh. Based on demand, Dinesh, Deepak, Raju and Rajveer stole cars. Praveen and Manatosh then sold the cars in Asam, Nagaland, Bihar and Bengal. Four of them had gone to steal the IG's SUV."
During interrogation, the thieves said they dropped the idea of immediately selling off the SUV when they saw it widely reported in newspapers and TV channels. "They parked the SUV in Sambhal. They wanted to sell it once things quitened down," Kiran S said. "In the meantime, police received a tip that some false papers were made to sell a stolen SUV in Hapur. We followed the trail that led to the arrest," he added.
The IG's SUV, which originally had a Chandigarh number plate, was found bearing the registration number WB 72L 5053. Another Safari and a Chevorlet Beat were also found. Dinesh told police they sold the cars to Praveen, Manatosh and Deepankar for Rs 40,000-60,000. The vehicles were then resold at double that price.