Four held for purchasing stolen cars, selling them

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Four auto dealers were arrestedhere today for allegedly purchasing luxury vehicles stolenfrom north India and selling them to VIPs, police said.

The men, arrested from Hauz Khas in south Delhi, havebeen identified as Pawan Goel, Amit Bansal, Pradeep Kumar andBipin Kumar Gupta, a senior police official said.

He said the gang allegedly used to purchase vehiclesstolen by autolifters active in the national capital region,take them to Bulandshahr Uttar Pradesh and imprint fictitiousengine chassis numbers on them. They then used to sell them toVIPs, the official said.

"One such sale was made to a retired Indian Army officerin Chandigarh recently. A lawyer in UP is also among theircustomers," he said.

While Goel and Gupta are residents of Bulandshahr, Bansaland Kumar were their "local contacts" who stay in Rohini.

Police claimed that 16 stolen vehicles had been recovered attheir instance.