Four car thieves held in West Bengal

SILIGURI - Four car thieves, including two Nepali nationals, have been arrested in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, police said Saturday.

Police said some of the cars stolen by the gang were believed to have reached some militant groups who were now using them with false number plates.

In a Friday night swoop at the Uttaryan township near Siliguri, police arrested a husband-wife duo from Assam — Anand Karki Chhetri and Sarita Sharma.

Following their interrogation, two Nepali nationals, Roshan Thapa and Ram Kumar Chhetri, were picked up from the Bagdora area the same night.

A 9 mm pistol, 12 live cartridges, a Border Security Force (BSF) uniform, a scorpio car, forged car papers, and false identity cards of the BSF and the army were recovered from the four arrested.

“They used to wear BSF and army fatigues to avoid suspicion. They have earlier operated in Bhubaneswar in Orissa and Durgapur of the state,” Siliguri Additional Superintendent of Police Gourav Sharma told reporters.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Darjeelign Range) N. Ramesh Babu said police were interrogating the four to find out whether they used to supply cars to militants.