UP municipal Councillor, 2 others arrested for auto lifting

New Delhi, Jul 4 (UNI) A municipal councillor of Uttar Pradesh was among three persons arrested by the police after it busted a gang of auto lifters in south Delhi.

Arif (36), a sitting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) councillor from Behjoi, Moradabad (UP), was arrested following the interrogation of Mukesh and Kabeer, both 23 years of age, who were apprehended on M B Road on June 19, police said today.

The two -- Mukesh and Kabeer -- were arrested with a stolen Maruti van and their interrogation led to the arrest of Arif to whom they sold the vehicles stolen by them.

Arif, an influential person in Moradabad, runs an auto workshop at Behjoi where he dismantled the stolen vehicles and sold the parts separately.

A raid was conducted at his workshop on June 24, but Arif managed to flee. He was later arrested on July 2.

Spare parts of several stolen vehicles were seized in the raids.

Arif, who is presently with the BSP was earlier with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and because of his political affiliations managed to evade arrest for the last five years, during which he was involved in this trade.

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