ITBP IG's SUV recovered by UP police

NOIDA: With the arrest of seven persons, UP police on Friday recovered ITBP IG’s stolen SUV alongwith two other cars. The police arrested the criminals near a petrol pump in phase three police station area, when the criminals were planning to shift the lifted vehicles to West Bengal.
The accused have been identified as Dinesh, Deepak, Raju, Rajveer, Praveen Barman, Mantosh Sarkar and Deepankar Sarkar.Dinesh, Deepak and Raju hail from Ghaziabad while Mantosh, Praveen and Deepankar belong to West Bengal. Rajveer is from Vinod Nagar in East Delhi.
In a major security lapse, a government vehicle belonging to ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) IG (Inspector General) Anand Swarup, carrying blue beacon, two stars and triangular flat stolen from outside IG’s residence in Noida on intervening night of January 19-20, this year. This incident had left NCR police in tizzy as it is considered as major security lapse as terrorists had hijacked the vehicle of a police officer just before the Pathankot terror attack earlier in January month.
Swarup lives with his family in Sector 23 in Noida. Swarup is recently transferred from Massouri to ITBP Delhi office. Tata Safari, which was allotted to him, was stationed outside his house. SUV was stolen. The police said that the criminals had come in Chevrolet Beat car. TOI had first reported that a hatchback car had trailed IG’s SUV. The car has been recorded by Sector 23 CCTV. This car passed from the gate, hardly three minutes aftre IG’s SUV.
Gautambudh Nagar senior superintendent of police Kiran S said, “Praveen Barman, Mantosh Sarkar and Deepankar Sarkar used to order Dinesh for cars. Based of car demand, Dinesh along with Deepak, Raju and Rajveer stole the car. Praveen and Mantosh further sold the cars in Assam, Nagaland, Bihar and West Bengal. Total four persons had gone to steal IG’s SUV. Out of four, only three persons had entered inside the sector to steal SUV.”
During sustained interrogation, the criminals told the police that after stealing IG’s SUV, it became national news. On seeing the news on news channels and news papers, the criminals had dropped the idea to immediately selling it. “They had parked IG’s SUV in Sambhal. They had planned to sale it after some days, once matter is defused. Police team had got a tip off that the some false papers have been developed to sale the stolen SUV in Hapur. The criminals were supposed to get delivery in Hapur and further transfer the lifted vehicles to Siliguri in West Bengal. Acting on the tip off, a team laid and while chasing the criminals, they were arrested in near a petrol pump, near FNG road in Noida at 2.30 pm,” Kiran S added.
The police have recovered ITBP IG’s stolen SUV bearing registration WB 72L 5053. Apart from IG’s SUV, one more Tata Safari SUV and Chevorlet Beat car have also been recovered. IG’s SUV was stolen from Sector 24 police station area while rest two vehicles from Phase two police station area.
The police said that the criminals, used to target those vehicles, which do not have sensors. The criminals were expert in auto lifting and used to steal a car within 10 and 15 minutes. The police said Deepankar Sarkar is a lawyer by profession and used to make false documents of the stolen cars.
During sustained interrogation, Dinesh told the cops that they used to sale cars within Rs 40 and Rs 60 thousand while Praveen Barman, Mantosh Sarkar and Deepankar Sarkar used to further sale the cars between Rs 1.20 and Rs 1.60 lakh.
Apart from vehicles, the police have also recovered tools including drill machine, wire cutter, iron rod etc.
Apart from IG’s SUV, one Chevorlet Beat was stolen on March 23 from Sector 71 while another white colour Tata Safari SUV was stolen on March 31 from Sector 63. Both Sector 71 and Sector 63 falls in phase three police station area.