3 vehicle lifters who rustled up bike keys with sandpaper held

Noida: An interstate gang that targeted older models of motorcycles, ones for which keys could be rustled up with a few strokes of sandpaper, was busted on Wednesday with the arrest of three men near Jaipuriya Square.

DCP (Noida) Rambadan Singh said the three men — Vijay Gautam (26), Ashish alias Ashu (24), and Yasin (42), all Dadri residents — were active in Delhi-NCR for the past few years and have stolen at least 18 bikes so far.

Cops have recovered 13 motorcycles, 34 keys and equipment used by the gang to steal bikes from their possession.

The accused allegedly would hide the bikes for some weeks before dismantling their parts and selling them off as scrap. The men claimed to make around Rs 2,000 to 3,000 per vehicle and mostly used the money to pay for drugs. Police are now trying to trace the scrap dealers who would purchase two-wheelers' parts from the gang.

Cops have increased surveillance across the city with a spike in vehicle lifting cases. In July, six men who made off with high-end vehicles by hacking into their electronic locking system were arrested.

Ten stolen cars were recovered from them, including a Fortuner Legender SUV worth Rs 55 lakh.