Meerut, Nov 2 (IANS): Bizarre though it may sound but the police in Meerut has found engines of two-wheelers stored in a defunct washing machine, trucks and boxes.

During a raid on the house of Mohd Afzal in Sotiganj, the police found the hidden bike engines -- ranging from 150cc to 500cc.

The police seized 117 bike engines from Afzal's house.

According to sources, the police have identified a 13-member gang that steals two-wheelers from Delhi-NCR, and subsequently, dismantles them. Seven engines have been identified, out of which six were from Delhi and one from Haryana, based on FIRs lodged.

Suraj Rai, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), said, that the gang could dismantle an entire car within 15 minutes after stealing it.

The mastermind of the four-wheeler auto mafia, Haji Galla, is already behind bars, along with his four sons and other accomplices. They have been booked with charges under the Gangster Act, and 17 of them have been charged under the Goonda Act.

Delhi alone accounted for 35,019 auto thefts in 2020, the highest in the country, according to the National Crime Record Bureau's latest data.

The whopping figure was recorded at a time when the country was under strict lockdown for months altogether due to the Covid pandemic.

In 2019, the figure was slightly higher at 46,725.

ASP Rai said: "The number would be much higher if we include NCR districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, from where stolen vehicles make their way to the Sotiganj market. It is not possible to ascertain the quantum of trade taking place here as two-wheeler engines and other spare parts are easier to hide because of their smaller size, as compared to four-wheeler engines. We have raided just one house and that too on the main Sotiganj road. There would be many more in the by lanes."