Thirst for lavish life turned two teens to crime

NEW DELHI - They joined a rock band while in school, but the craving for a lavish lifestyle led them to crime. Two 19-year-olds were arrested along with two others for alleged auto theft and 12 vehicles recovered from them, police said Monday.

The arrested have been identified as Hafiz, 22, Istkar Khan, 34, Sameer Gadhailey, 19, and Anil Taak, 19. Sameer Gadhailey and Anil, both students of Deepalya School run by an NGO, had formed a rock band named of ‘Break the Silence’ during school days. But to live a lavish life they joined the kingpin Istkar Khan and Hafiz in auto-lifting, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal.

Hafiz, from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, came to the city and started working as a car mechanic and met a drug-peddler, Istkar Khan, who then introduced him to other members of the gang, said Dhaliwal.

Istkar Khan in 2007 was held by the narcotics department and was in jail. While he was in jail he hatched a plan to form a gang of auto thieves, and after his release he started the thefts.

The four were apprehended after a tip-off from Malviya Nagar in south Delhi. At first on Jan 5, Hafiz and Istkar were apprehended. It was during their interrogation, they revealed about their associates. The duo told police that with the help of Gadhailey and Anil Taak, they had committed several incidents of thefts, added Dhaliwal.

The two were nabbed and the 12 stolen vehicles, four cars and eight bikes, recovered from them. Gadhailey and Taak had dropped out of school a few years ago.