Jaipur, June 21 : In a major breakthrough, Udyog Nagar police station in Alwar district of Rajasthan on Saturday arrested a wanted criminal, Nasir Meo alias Siddiq Khan (42), a resident of Heerwadi, Firozpur Jhirka Sadar, Nuh Mewat, Haryana.

With a bounty of Rs 25,000 on his head, Nasir was the kingpin of an interstate gang involved in large-scale fraud, vehicle theft, and embezzlement of valuable goods.

According to SP Sanjeev Nain, this arrest has led to the unearthing of a highly organised gang that operated across multiple states. The breakthrough came while investigating a case registered on 23 January, after a truck carrying mustard oil went missing along with its driver.

A special investigation team was formed under the direction of Additional SP Dr. Tejpal Singh, supervision of Circle Officer Ramgarh Sunil Prasad Sharma, and leadership of SHO Udyog Nagar Ajit Singh Badsara.

The team worked relentlessly and succeeded in apprehending Nasir Meo based on solid intelligence from an informer. In a dramatic chase, Nasir tried to flee in his Hyundai Alcazar, but the vehicle's tyres burst due to roadblocks laid with nails.

Despite this, he drove nearly 10 km before being intercepted and arrested. Investigations revealed that Nasir headed a sophisticated gang that forged documents, tampered with chassis numbers, and used fake number plates to loot truckloads of goods. They tricked transporters by posing as legitimate drivers using forged driving licenses and IDs.

After loading expensive goods, they would vanish, later repainting and modifying the trucks for future crimes or selling them to a known smuggler named Javed in Maharashtra. The gang also exploited loopholes in the vehicle registration system.

Using fake chassis and engine numbers, they obtained NOCs from Assam and Nagaland to register these vehicles in Rajasthan. Later, these were used to fraudulently obtain bank loans or were falsely reported as stolen and scrapped.

The gang's network includes Nazir (Jaipur) ' RTO broker, Vikram Gurjar (Shahpura, Jaipur), Rafi Adba and Javed (Maharashtra). So far, police have recovered the Hyundai Alcazar used during the escape, a truck with an altered chassis and fake RC and 259 stolen mustard oil cans.

Nasir Meo has multiple criminal cases registered against him across Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

The Alwar police are continuing their investigation and are confident of soon dismantling the entire criminal network.

/IANS