How they used catapults to steal your laptop

Police arrest gang of five; accused confess they attacked parked cars to steal bags, laptops kept inside

They stole laptops with catapults. That's what five men of a gang that attacked parked cars for bags and laptops kept inside, revealed after they were arrested on Monday.

The special staff of the Southeast district police arrested five people from Andhra Pradesh who allegedly stole bags and laptops from parked cars in the city. According to the police, the gang used catapults to break into the cars and then run away with the booty kept inside. During interrogation, the five confessed to their crime.

The five, identified as Vinayak, 18, Ajay, 21, Sarvan, 19, Mukesh, 20 and Murli, 20, roamed in various parts of the city and its suburbs, only to assemble once in a week when they conducted the recce of a particular place where they wanted to strike. At present, they were staying near the Old Faridabad Railway Station.

On Monday, two of the gang members, Ajay and Sarwan, had come to the New Friends Colony market to deliver the stolen goods to an unknown receiver when they were arrested by the police.u00a0u00a0 Two stolen laptops were recovered from their possession.

The two led the cops to the rest of the gang. Three more stolen laptops were recovered from their hideout near the Old Faridabad Railway Station. A total of five laptops were recovered from them, which were stolen from Mandawali, Laxmi Nagar, Rani Bagh, Noida Sec 58 and Indirapuram.

"They claim to be from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. But we are verifying their antecedents. They say they can't converse in Hindi so it is becoming a bit difficult to interrogate them. We hired an interpreter to help us. We have information that the buyers were middlemen who later sold these stolen goods in the market at a cheaper price. If we can arrest the buyer or the middleman, the entire racket of where these laptops were sold can be busted," said an investigating officer, wishing anonymity.