Kingpin of inter-state auto theft gang, who stole over 5000 cars, arrested

New Delhi, Sep 5: Kingpin of the car thief gang who had stolen 5,000 vehicles from various parts of the country since 1998, was arrested, police said on Monday.

Anil Chauhan (52), resident of Khanpur Extention who hails from Tejpur, Assam, was also notorious for smuggling of Rhinoceros horn in the northeastern state. He was also actively involved in supply of illegal arms, they said.

He had previous criminal involvement in 181 cases.

The accused was a Class-I contractor in Assam government. Later, the Enforcement directorate raided his place and all his property was seized and auctioned. Later, he again started committing thefts, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shweta Chauhan said that due to recent spurt in the activities of illegal arms suppliers in central district and Delhi, the special staff of central district have been tasked to check them.

An information about the arrival of the most wanted auto lifter cum supplier of illegal arms of India - Anil Chauhan in the jurisdiction of DBG Road police station in central Delhi was received by the special staff, and the accused was arrested on August 23, she said.

"A dedicated team was constituted and accused Anil Chauhan was arrested with an illegal country-made pistol, two live cartridges, and one stolen motorcycle. During the course of the investigation, five more country made pistols, five live cartridges and one stolen car were also recovered on his instance," she added.

Chauhan has started stealing vehicles in 1998 and has stolen approximately 5000 vehicles from various parts of India. He has been arrested by police various times and sent to jail, the DCP said.

He had been convicted for five years in a criminal case of Nizamuddin police station and was previously involved in 180 criminal cases, she said.

Chauhan was also arrested in 2015 by Assam police with one sitting MLA, police said.