The six accused ere active in south and southeast Delhi, said police.
Police has arrested six members of an interstate gang of auto-lifters and recovered 26 stolen vehicles.
The six accused, who have been arrested are Asim, Sher Ali, Salim, Sunil, Langra and Abdul Habib, and they were active in south and southeast Delhi, said DCP(South) Ishwar Singh.
The gang members had developed an expertise in stealing and disposing of Toyota Innova Utility Vehicles, much in demand in the grey market, the officer said.
The syndicate that the accused were consists of several auto-lifters, their handlers and those who have expertise in quick disposal of stolen vehicles, either by dismantling them completely or by giving them a new identity by transplanting the necessary unique identifiers like the engine number, chassis number, etc, the DCP added.
Of the total 26 vehicles recovered, 17 are Toyota Innova cars. The rest are expensive vehicles including Toyota Fortunner, Honda City, etc.
During interrogation, they told police that they used to disconnect all the wires connected to the horn of the vehicle so that there was no sound, Singh said.
After this, the front quarter glass of the vehicle was smashed and once they gained entry into the car, they used to loosen up the bolt which is placed in the lower portion of the steering column, thus releasing the steering wheel, he said.
The wires of the ECM (Engine Control Module) that controls the engine of the vehicle were disconnected, he said.
For every theft of high value automobile, the auto-lifters used to carry a pre-programmed ECM with them which was then integrated with the vehicle and they used to flee with the vehicle, he added.