From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, Sep 7: Anil Chauhan, stated to be the biggest car thief in the country having been accused of stealing more than 5,000 cars from the Northeast and other parts of the country in a career spanning 27 years, finally ran out of luck after he was arrested on Monday by Delhi Police.
Chauhan who hails from Tezpur, Assam was first arrested in 2010 by Meghalaya Police from Silchar, one of his major hubs.
The car lifter, who was arrested with four of his accomplices then, were skilled in tampering with the chassis and engine numbers of the stolen vehicles and selling them to unsuspecting clients in Mizoram and other states.
He was arrested for a second time by Assam Police in 2015 when he was with a local Congress MLA.
He was also accused of smuggling rhino horns and remained in jail for five years before being released in 2020.
Cauhan’s first brush with crime was in 1995 when he used to stay in the Khanpur area of Delhi and drove auto-rickshaws. He started stealing cars and sold them to his clients Nepal, Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeastern states.
According to the police, Anil had also allegedly killed some taxi drivers during the theft to conceal his crime. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also registered a money laundering case against him. As many as 180 cases are already registered against him.
He fled to Assam and rose to become a government contractor and was in touch with local politicians.
Chauhan was arrested in Delhi after receiving information about his arrival in the capital by Special Staff under the jurisdiction of Deshbandhu Road police station. One illegal country-made pistol, two live cartridges, and one stolen motorcycle were recovered from him.
During the investigation, five more country-made pistols and a stolen car were recovered from him. The official said that he came to Delhi to deliver arms in a stolen car.
Chauhan is said to lead a luxurious lifestyle and owns multiple properties in Delhi, Mumbai and the Northeast. He has three wives and seven children who left him after the ED raids and arrest.