Ahmedabad, Sep 16 (IANS): The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has busted an inter-state criminal syndicate allegedly responsible for the theft of over 500 cars from Delhi-NCR and surrounding areas, an official said on Friday. 

The gang's modus operandi involved altering the electronic security systems of the stolen vehicles.

Two key members of the criminal outfit have been arrested, with 10 stolen vehicles recovered during the operation, an official said on Friday.

The arrested gang leaders have been identiifed as Ashraf Sultan, a.k.a. Gaji, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and Irfan a.k.a. Pintu, hailing from Ranchi, Jharkhand.

These individuals collaborated with approximately 25 other gang

members from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, and West Bengal to execute their car theft operations.

Their primary method involved bypassing the security systems of four-wheelers like Fortuner, Innova, Scorpio, Creta, Brezza, among others, which they pilfered from parking lots using laptops.

After disabling the security measures, the gang would alter the engine chassis numbers to match those of vehicles registered in northeastern states.

With No Objection Certificates (NOCs) obtained from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in the northeastern states, the stolen vehicles were prepared for sale.

To facilitate transactions, prospective buyers made advance online payments to book the stolen cars, which were subsequently sold in states different from where they were stolen.

Irfan often travelled by air to arrange the sale of these cars, while Ashraf Ghazi personally transported and delivered the stolen vehicles.

The gang levied travel and lodging expenses on customers,

earning around Rs 25,000 in commissions per member for each stolen car.

To gain the trust of potential buyers, they promised new registrations and documentation for the stolen vehicles before facilitating their sale.

Some customers who paid advance fees for vehicle bookings never received the cars or refunds. The gang's illicit operation extended to multiple states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.