New Delhi, Dec 21 : The Delhi Police have claimed to have busted an inter-state syndicte involved in stealing more than 500 cars from the national capital and its peripherals with the arrest of two persons. The arrested individuals were identified as Shakib a.k.a Gaddu and Mohd. Nazim, an official said on Thursday. Gaddu, the kingping, has been operating mainly in Delhi-NCR, Raipur, Durg in Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad in Telangana, Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru in Karnataka for the last six years and has been involved in theft of more than 500 cars, said the official. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said that earlier, based on a specific tip-off, Nazim, who is the Meerut-based member of this gang, was arrested from Seemapuri border in a stolen vehicle while on his way to Noida. During questioning, he disclosed that he works for one Shakib and delivers stolen vehicles to Raipur and Durg in Chhattisgarh to one Waseem from Meerut. "Another information about Shakib was received that he is in judicial custody in Bhondsi Jail, Haryana. Based on that information, Shakib was arrested and his police remand was sought for the custodial interrogation and further investigation," said the DCP. On questioning, Shakib revealed that he has been running this syndicate along with his associate Waseem, and was operating from Delhi and NCR. "He has sent many stolen vehicles to Waseem through one Nazim and other drivers. It was learnt that Waseem is currently staying in Jodhpur (Rajasthan), and many stolen vehicles can be recovered from Jodhpur," said the DCP. Subsequently, a team conducted raids at various places in Jodhpur. During these raids, seven cars, including Creta, Venue, Scorpio, Brezza, Ertiga etc., were recovered. A total of 12 cars have been recovered from the instances of the duo, during the whole operation. The DCP said that Waseem plays a vital role in receiving and selling the stolen vehicles in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana himself and sells in other states through other receivers, mainly in Maharashtra, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu etc. "Firstly, he used to buy scrap along with original documents from the insurance companies through their online platforms and then send the demand of the cars with the identical model and colour to Shakib, who further convey the demand to the auto-lifters on grounds, to steal the vehicles from Delhi and NCR, according to the demand," said the DCP. "After receiving the vehicles, Shakib tampers the details of the stolen vehicles, including affixation of number plates, according to the details of the vehicles demanded and afterwards send the vehicles to Waseem and other receivers in different states through specialised drivers, recruited by himself, for the said purpose by alluring them of quick and easy money," said the DCP. Shakib used to tamper the details so skillfully that even Transport Authorities and finance companies could not identify the tampering. "They had established their hub in the Maoist-hit areas in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and other remote areas in different states for selling these stolen vehicles to make it difficult for such vehicles to be recovered. Their counterparts in Rajasthan have also sold these vehicles to the members of the drug cartel to transport the drugs, using these stolen vehicles," the DCP added. /IANS