Arunachal: District officer, data operator held in Rs 30 cr luxury vehicle racket

Arunachal Pradesh police have arrested District Transport Officer (DTO) Yajum Lombi and data entry operator Charu Akey for their alleged involvement in a Rs 30.5-crore luxury vehicle smuggling racket that was busted in July.

Lombi, posted at Yupia in Papum Pare district, was arrested from her Itanagar residence on Friday for allegedly approving forged documents that enabled the registration of stolen vehicles.

Earlier in August, police apprehended Charu Akey, a data entry operator from Palin in Kra Dadi district, who is accused of creating fake entries in the transport database. He is currently in judicial custody.

The racket, involving at least 73 stolen luxury vehicles from Delhi-NCR and other parts of north India, came to light after a suo motu FIR was registered. On July 2, Capital police launched a statewide crackdown, seizing 27 Hyundai Cretas, nine Toyota Fortuners, five Kia Seltos, along with several high-end SUVs from Audi, Ford, Mahindra and Maruti.

Investigators said all seized vehicles have been blacklisted and traced to FIRs registered in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states, calling it the largest single-station recovery of stolen vehicles in India.

Police suspect that brokers altered engine and chassis numbers before generating fake registration papers. International financial links and digital money trails connected to the syndicate are also under probe.