Two held with 10 stolen vehicles in Ludhiana

Police busted a gang of vehicle-lifters with the arrest of two men on Friday. The police have recovered nine two-wheelers and an auto-rickshaw from the accused, Sahil Mota, 24, of Jassiyan Road and Gaurav Malhotra, 27, of Kucha Laxmi Nagar.

Police commissioner Rakesh Agarwal said the duo was arrested at a checkpoint near the Basti Jodhewal chowk. “The accused were in an auto carrying a scooter. They tried to escape on seeing the police party, but were given a chase and caught. They confessed that the auto and the scooter were stolen. They had installed a fake number plate on the auto,” he said.

“Following information provided by the accused, the police recovered eight two-wheelers which the accused had dumped in a vacant plot at Jassiyan Road,” he said.

Daresi station house officer inspector Vijay Kumar said the auto recovered from the accused was stolen from Rajpura on September 29. “The accused boarded a train from Ludhiana to Rajpura, stole the auto and drove it to the city,” he said.

The inspector added that the accused sold stolen two-wheelers to scrap dealers for ₹1,000 to ₹1,500. “We will also arrest the scrap dealers,” he said.

School dropouts facing charges

Agarwal said the accused are school dropouts. “Sahil is a drug addict, while Gaurav, an auto driver, is an alcoholic. Sahil is facing trial in two cases of theft and was bailed out one-and-a-half months ago. Gaurav is also facing charges in four cases of liquor smuggling,” he said.

A case under Sections 379 (theft), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc. with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the accused at the Daresi police station. The duo was produced before a court and remanded in one-day police custody.