Delhi
Insurance firms have been found selling damaged cars, along with their original documents, to dealers who scrap them. But their engine and chassis numbers are kept for use in similar vehicles that would be lifted by another group. DNA looks at how the syndicate is ‘safely’ putting stolen vehicles on used-car lots in the city.
Updated : Feb 17, 2018, 06:00 AM IST
A team of Delhi Police’s Crime Branch intercepted three men, two from UP’s Meerut, in a white Toyota Fortuner in West Delhi’s Rajouri Garden on March 30, 2017. The operation, led by Inspector Neeraj Chaudhary and ASI Gulab Singh, was conducted following a tip-off that the SUV was the one stolen about two months ago from Northwest Delhi’s Rani Bagh. The vehicle’s forensic examination showed that its chassis and engine numbers had been forged. The car, actually stolen from Chandigarh, had a fake Assam registration number plate.
It looked like a routine auto theft case. But what transpired during initial examinations left the police puzzled. The men seemed to have all valid documents for the vehicle they had stolen! Investigations unravelled a much bigger nexus.
Here’s what had happened: a Toyota Fortuner had met with an accident; the insurance company paid the owner money and took all documents; a similar vehicle was stolen and its chassis and engine numbers were replaced with those of the damaged car; after a makeover at a scrap dealer, the stolen SUV was “safe” and “legal” — ready to be parked at a used-car lot.
It was not a one-off case. Further probe has brought insurance agencies, those dealing in scrap and used cars, and middlemen under tight police scrutiny. “These are not just theft or forgery cases. Such vehicles can be used in disrupting activities. It’s a threat to internal security,” said a senior police officer.
Alok Kumar, Delhi’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), admitted that involvement of scrap dealers and auto lifters has come to the fore in a number of cases. “Many accused have also claimed, during interrogation, that insurance companies are involved… all cases are being closely scrutinised and anyone found involved will be booked,” he said.
It all starts when a car meets with an accident. The owner claims insurance money. The insurance company evaluates the value of the vehicle, pays the owner accordingly and declares it as “total loss”. “The vehicle, now scrap, belongs to the insurance company, which also takes original documents and an NOC from the owner to ensure there are no legal problems in future,” said a police officer.
The scrap is now put on auction by the insurance firm to a number of authorised dealers. The highest bidder takes the vehicle and its original documents. The legal journey of the vehicle ends here and the real game begins. The new “owner” sells the vehicle to an unauthorised scrap dealer. The value of one such vehicle is at least four times more if original documents are available.
Now, a few middlemen, usually employees at automobile workshops, or local mechanics, are contacted, who get in touch with auto-lifting gangs and demand a vehicle of the similar make, model and colour. These gangs take two to three weeks, or a couple of months in some cases, to achieve this.
Most vehicles are picked up outside the owners’ homes, mostly post midnight until wee hours. The stolen vehicle is sold to middlemen for not-so-hefty prices — Rs 1 lakh for an SUV, Rs 50,000 for a sedan and Rs 25,000 for a small car.
It is here that the makeover begins. These middlemen, at their auto workshops, erase the chassis and engine numbers of stolen cars and engrave those of scrapped ones giving them a new identity. Original documents of dismantled vehicles make the stolen ones “legal” in the eyes of police and traffic authorities. “These vehicles enter second-hand car markets and are sold, along with ‘original’ papers, for good prices — Rs 6-7 lakh for SUVs, Rs 3-4 lakh for sedans and Rs 2 lakh for small cars,” said the officer.
In October 2017, Delhi’s “super thief” Kunal Maheshwari was arrested. The 35-year-old’s gang was suspected of stealing a car almost every alternate day in Delhi and neighbouring states. He was arrested in 2013 for his suspected role in 70 vehicle thefts but got bail in February 2017. He then stole over 100 cars in Delhi, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The gang was also part of a wider network that sold stolen cars, changing engine and chassis numbers and repurposing papers.