A 53-year-old man, accused in 37 criminal cases that include a stringent organised crime act, was arrested from southeast Delhi for allegedly selling stolen vehicles to drug peddlers, police said Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, the accused -- Sharafat Sheikh, a resident of Nizamuddin -- was arrested from the area on Sunday, the police said.
One of his associates, Piyush Verma, 23, was arrested last Friday from a checkpoint when the police found that the scooter he was riding was stolen, said Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (southeast).
Verma, a son of a railways employee, disclosed that he was addicted to drugs and liquor.
In order to meet his needs, he started stealing motorcycles and mobile phones from Nizamuddin area and sold them to Pappu alias Tabrez, 33, Biswal said.
Pappu, who was arrested from Nizamuddin, revealed that he used to handover the stolen motorcycles and mobile phones to Shiekh after purchasing them from drug addicts. Sheikh gave these vehicles to drug peddlers so that they can leave them and run away in case of any possibility of arrest, the DCP said.
Another close aide of Sheikh, identified as Sheikh Hannan, was also arrested. Eighteen stolen mobile phones have been recovered, the officer said.
Sheikh and Hannan were booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in 2005. Sheikh was in judicial custody since June 2006 on charges of being part of an organised crime syndicate and was released from jail recently, the police added.
22-Year-Old Man Stabbed To Death Over Old Enmity In Delhi's Rohini 50-Year-Old Woman Shot At While Sleeping In Her House In Delhi: Cops How Delhi Police Rescued One-Year-Old Who Was Stolen, Sold For Rs 3 Lakh Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms Trainee IAS Summoned By Pune Cops Over Harassment Claims Against Collector Railway Cops Rescued Over 84,000 Children Under Risk In Last 7 Years "Assassination Attempt Has Sealed The Election": Trump's Close Aide Maharashtra Government Declares Job Training And Stipend Scheme Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.