Notorious car thief held in Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: A man wanted for many car thefts was arrested by the Ghaziabad police over the weekend and 15 cars recovered. Uday Chandra Sharma (50) of Faridabad, from whom the Delhi police had earlier recovered 150 stolen cars, said he had stolen so many cars that he had lost count.
According to the police, Sharma boasted: ‘‘I have been arrested seven or eight times for car thefts.Dozens, even hundreds of cars were recovered each time. But I have never been convicted of stealing even a single car.’’
District police chief Chandra Prakash, said Sharma ‘‘attributes his never being convicted to preparing and arguing each case himself. He does not hire lawyers. He is a regular Natwarlal.’’
As for the stolen cars, Sharma told the Times News Network while in police custody, ‘‘Most stolen cars are sent to Nepal. And we get paid by the hawala route.’’
In Nepal there is so little checking of vehicle papers that stolen cars ply without even changing the original registration numbers, the police said. Sharma says that Rs 12,000 is the best one can get for a stolen car, even if it is new or expensive.
About the cars that remain in India, Sharma said, ‘‘The friendly neighbourhood kabari-wallah can take a car that has been written off as a total wreck and cut out the plate containing the chassis number, with a blowtorch. The plate is then transferred to the stolen car. The papers already exist for that number.’’
Sharma points out that even the engine number can be duplicated by an expert mechanic using a cutter.