New Delhi: Four persons, who allegedly stole cars using latest technology and equipment, have been arrested here, police said today.
The accused – Sagir Ahmad, Safruddin alias Safar, Aamir alias Aman and Shoib Khan – are active members of an interstate gang led by Sagir alias Sata of Sambhal in western UP, said DCP (Southeast) Romil Baaniya.
The accused used latest technology and instruments to bypass and programme the alternative ECM (Electronic control module) of targeted cars, he said.
They used to buy these electronic equipments like key programmers, alternate ECMs, etc from e-commerce websites, said the officer.
They had gained technical expertise by watching YouTube videos, he said.
Police have recovered 12 stolen luxury vehicles and it has been found that they conducted the recce during daytime and the location of the target vehicle was shared on Whatsapp with Sata, who used to further share it with his gang members.
The accused were arrested around 5 AM on April 1 from near Meerabai Polytechnic College in New Friends Colony following a tip-off.
The accused used to steal the cars on demand and every member of the gang is an expert in stealing cars of different brands, said Baaniya.
For instance, Aamir is an expert in stealing Toyoto Innova, Fortuner and Maruti cars.
While carrying out theft of Innovas, Fortuners and Marutis, the accused used to first park their car alongside the target car.
“They would then cut the wire of the targeted car’s horn from under the bonnet of the car. If the car’s indicators started to flash, they would rush to their own car and wait till the indicators went off,” he said.
After this, they used to break the rear quarter glass and enter into the car after unlocking it and pulling the ignition point by using drill machine.
Then, they used to take out the wires from plugs below the dashboard and connect these wires through cuplinks into the alternative ECM brought by them and then start the car by inserting a screwdriver into the ignition point.
The accused used a laptop to scan the programme after connecting the wires into their own ECM, which they used to call as a ‘bypass’.
They used to carry covers for the stolen vehicles along with them.
After stealing the car, they used to deliver them to the party that had demanded them and if they did not have orders for cars, they used to hide them in parking lots after covering them.
—PTI