New Delhi, May 30: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted an interstate syndicate involved in the theft and resale of high-end vehicles, a statement said on Friday.

The gang used a sophisticated modus operandi to sell stolen cars through online platforms by forging documents, opening bank accounts with fake identities, and tampering with engine and chassis numbers.

In a series of coordinated operations, the police arrested a key member of the gang and recovered eight luxury vehicles.

According to Delhi Police, the breakthrough came with the arrest of Rakesh Patel alias Pappu (38), a core operative of the syndicate, near Sahibabad Railway Station in Ghaziabad on April 21, 2025.

Acting on a tip-off, police apprehended him while he was attempting to sell a stolen Maruti Wagon-R via an online platform.

Patel, a resident of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad (UP), and originally from Mohiuddin Nagar, Samastipur (Bihar), played a central role in managing theft operations and delivering stolen vehicles across states.

His associates arranged vehicles, counterfeit documents, and fake number plates.

The gang’s method was notably elaborate. After stealing a car, they searched online car-selling portals for vehicles of the same make, model, and colour.

Using open-source information, they identified details of genuine owners and forged documents in the owner’s name — featuring the photograph of one of the accused. They also opened bank accounts using these fake identities.

To avoid detection, the syndicate would tamper with the stolen car’s engine and chassis numbers to match those of the legitimate vehicle. Fake Registration Certificates (RCs) were then prepared, making the stolen car appear genuine. Once the vehicle was thus ‘cloned,’ it was listed for sale on online platforms.

The syndicate targeted high-demand vehicles, often choosing cars parked in low-surveillance or roadside areas. The police noted the gang’s use of advanced technological tools to support their operations.

A team led by Inspector Arun Sindhu of the Crime Branch spearheaded the investigation, which led to the arrest and recovery of the stolen vehicles.

Chandigarh, May 30: At least five people were killed and 34 injured on Friday in a blast at a double-storey illegal firecracker factory located on the outskirts of a village in Punjab’s Muktsar district, police said.

Most of the victims were migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The factory, owned by Tarsem Singh, who is associated with the state-ruled AAP, in Singhwala village, was reduced to rubble owing to the intensity of the blast, trapping many under debris.

According to the police, the blast occurred at midnight. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, and most of them were stated to be out of danger.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Muktsar Sahib, Akhil Chaudhary, said the blast occurred in one of the rooms in the manufacturing setup of the unit, which led to the collapse of the roof.

Many people got trapped under the debris, and rescue operations were launched immediately after the police received information about the incident.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jaspal Singh said five bodies had been recovered from the debris, and 29 injured individuals were rushed to AIIMS Bathinda and hospitals in Muktsar.

Rescue teams were still on the scene, working to clear the rubble and search for survivors, if any.

The exact cause of the blast is being worked out, but initial investigation suggests that the blast occurred from potash used in manufacturing crackers.

Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Abhijit Kaplish told the media that no permission was granted to the manufacturing unit under the Explosives Rules of 2008.

“An application was made by the owners, but reports from different departments were pending, so no permission was granted,” he clarified.

Scattered shoes, broken glass panes and vehicles were seen all over the accident spot, as rescuers were sifting through the rubble in search of survivors.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal has demanded a probe into the incident and urged the government to promptly release adequate compensation to the victims’ families.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Khudian said the factory owner is a supporter of the AAP, but that does not permit anyone to engage in illegal activity.

“The law will take its own course,” he added.

In 2020, a total of 23 people were killed and 27 were injured in the explosion in an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in Punjab’s Batala town. It was manufacturing and storing crackers for a ‘nagar kirtan’ — a religious procession relating to the birth anniversary celebrations of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev.

A similar blast occurred in Batala in January 2017, leaving one person dead and three injured.

Dehradun, May 30: The court of the Additional District and Session Judge of Kotdwar, Uttarakhand will deliver its verdict in the sensational Ankita Bhandari murder case on Friday. The case had made national headlines after the local people came out and protested over the murder of the 19-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort located in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district.

The young woman was allegedly murdered by the resort operator Pulkit Arya, along with his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta on September 18, 2022.

The case had taken a sensational turn as Pulkit Arya is the son of Vinod Arya, a BJP leader and the local people had taken to the streets to protest over it. The BJP had shown Vinod Arya the door after the controversy erupted and the Uttarakhand government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

The Uttarakhand court completed its hearing in the Ankita Bhandari murder case on Monday and is scheduled to announce the verdict today.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi on May 19 this year heard the final arguments between the defence and the prosecution in the case which had rocked Uttarakhand due to its political overtones.

After hearing the closing arguments of both sides, the Judge had fixed May 30 as the date for pronouncing the verdict.

The hearing of the case lasted for two years and eight months. During this time, 47 witnesses, including the Investigation Officer, were presented by the prosecution advocate Anuj Pundir.

According to the prosecution, Ankita Bhandari and Pulkit Arya had a dispute over something, after which the young man, along with Bhaskar and Gupta, allegedly pushed the woman into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh.

After Ankita Bhandari’s lifeless body was fished out of the Cheela canal, the three men were arrested by the police and sent to prison.

Fearing leniency for the accused and his accomplices due to his political connections, the residents of Pauri district came out in large numbers to protest, and the Uttarakhand government formed a SIT to probe the matter and take the case to its logical conclusion.