Ex-ELV handler employee held for fake MCD vehicle removal racket

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) A former employee of an authorised End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) handling agency allegedly posed as an MCD official and used fake removal orders to steal old two-wheelers from different parts of Delhi, police said on Friday. The accused, identified as Adnan Saifi (24), a resident of Tihar village, and Akram (43), a scrap dealer from Aligarh operating in Delhi's Mayapuri, were arrested in connection with the racket. Police said the arrests led to the solving of three motor vehicle theft cases, including two registered at Paharganj police station and one at Prem Nagar. "The case came to light after the owner of a 15-year-old scooter reported on June 20 that his vehicle had disappeared from the Sangatrashan Chowki area in Paharganj. A removal order purportedly issued by the MCD's Karol Bagh Zone in favour of scrapers had been pasted at the spot," a senior police officer said. The officer further said that verification by the MCD revealed that no such removal had been authorised, establishing that the document was fabricated. An e-FIR was subsequently registered at Paharganj police station, and further investigation was taken up. During the investigation, CCTV footage showed two men removing the scooter. One of them was riding another scooter, later found to have been stolen from the Prem Nagar area in a separate case. Further verification with officials of the MCD's Rohini Zone and authorised ELV agency confirmed that neither vehicle had been legally removed. A representative of the authorised agency identified one of the suspects seen in the footage as Adnan, who had earlier worked with the agency as a daily wage worker. "Acting on a tip-off, police arrested Adnan from Rohini on July 3 and recovered the stolen scooter from his possession. During interrogation, he disclosed that after leaving the agency, he exploited his knowledge of the ELV removal process by impersonating MCD officials and using fabricated removal orders to steal old vehicles from different parts of Delhi," the officer said. Police said Adnan confessed to stealing the complainant's scooter with the help of a labourer hired from a labour chowk in New Delhi, whose identity he could not provide. He also disclosed his alleged involvement in the theft of 14 other ELVs across the city, the verification of which is underway. The accused further said he had stolen a motorcycle from the Paharganj area and sold it to Akram, leading to another theft case being registered at the police station. Subsequent raids were conducted in Mayapuri and Aligarh before Akram was arrested from Mayapuri on July 6. Police recovered dismantled parts of stolen vehicles, including number plates of two stolen two-wheelers, five fabricated removal orders and a blank booklet of such forged documents. Police said Akram knowingly received stolen vehicles, facilitated their immediate dismantling and retained the fabricated removal orders to make the transactions appear genuine. Police said he was neither authorised by the MCD nor by any government agency to remove or destroy ELVs. Police said Adnan has one previous case of vehicle theft registered at Kirti Nagar police station. They added that the role of other associates is being verified. PTI BM KSI KSI