North India's most notorious vehicle thief arrested from Delhi border

Manoj Bakkarwala, wanted for over 300 cases of vehicle theft and described by police as one of the most notorious vehicle thieves in north India, was arrested from Delhi border early this morning.

His two associates Rajkumar (19) and Jaidev Singh (20) were also apprehended from Anand Vihar bus stand around noon following his questioning, Arun Kampani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), told reporters.

36-year-old Bakkarwala, who has fled from custody thrice and managed to escape several times when chased, was apprehended by Special Cell from east Delhi's Gazipur at around 5 am.

Bakkarwala had escaped from the custody of Haryana Police on the way back from Saket Court to Bhondsi Jail on June 20 last year. Since then he was not arrested and had managed to dodge police several times.

A senior police official said he was apprehended when he came there in a stolen Volkswagen Vento car bearing the registration number of Uttarakhand. He was standing outside the car waiting for his accomplices when they caught him.

A .32 English pistol, two magazines and eight rounds were allegedly recovered from him.

Bakkarwala, against whom Delhi Police and their Haryana counterparts had declared a reward of Rs50,000 each, had in October 17 managed to dodge a police net at ITO near police headquarters.

He had then hit a Sub Inspector with his car and then opened fire twice at the police party before escaping into the dark. In December also, he apparently gave investigators a slip in Vasant Kunj area but this was denied by police.

Bakkarwala, who was evading police for years, was arrested by Delhi Police's Special Cell on July 15, 2009 following investigations into inputs about him disposing of stolen cars in Chandigarh.

Investigators said Bakkarwala is an expert in driving cars and preferred to steal late at night or early in the morning, preferably on wide roads with no traffic signals so that he could escape easily.

"He has a lavish lifestyle and was in a relationship with a Harayana girl who is doing MBA," the official said, adding he has been bearing all her expenses, including tuition fees.

Bakkarwala also used to change his accomplices from time to time and constantly changed his hide-outs.

Asked how he managed to escape at will, Kampani said Bakkarwala used to adopt innovative ways.

"He escaped on June 20 last year with the help of his asscociate Pradeep and girl friend Tina. When he was at Saket court, his associates befriended policemen who was taking Bakkarwala back to Haryana.

"The duo told policemen to travel in their car which they agreed to. Enroute to jail, they stopped the car at Sushant Lok. Pradeep gave the car keys to policemen and went along with them to buy food. Manoj was provided with duplicate keys by his girl friend and they escaped using it," he said.

The carjacker, who allegedly started his criminal life in 1998 along with one Makhan, was first arrested in 1998 and then in 2003. He continued with his criminal activities once he was out on bail.

In 2007, he was arrested by the Gurgaon Police but escaped in July 2008 with the help of an associate.

On May 8, 2009, he managed to give the slip to the South Delhi police in Kanjhawala area when a police party spotted him in a car. He was also hurt in a brief encounter and after escaping from Kanjhawala, Bakkarwala went to Chandigarh.

"He is fond of lavish lifestyle and luxury vehicles. He used to stay in rented houses in different towns like Dehradoon, Karnal and Haridwar. To evade the police net, he keeps changing his accomplices from time to time," the official said.

"He would avoid targeting owner-driven cars as there he would meet stiff resistance. In many cases he would show a pistol but there are also cases, where he would get the car on delivering a mere threat to the driver.

"In other cases, he would simply drive away the car when the driver or cleaner would leave the key in the car and be busy cleaning the vehicle," the official said.