Friendly ‘doctor’ who stole vehicles arrested in Greater Noida

A man claiming to be a homeopathic doctor was among two people arrested in Greater Noida on Wednesday on charges of lifting vehicles of people after befriending them, according to police.

Accused Kapil Verma has been involved in at least three such cases where he has tricked people into lending their cars to him for some time and within days, the vehicles went missing, a senior police officer said.

"He would get in touch with people and befriend them. Eventually he would ask for their vehicle for a day or for some time on some or the other pretext. He would then get a duplicate key made for the car and also get a GPS tracker installed in it," Superintendent of Police, Greater Noida, Vineet Jaiswal told reporters.

"Verma's accomplice Rahul Sharma provided him with the duplicate keys and tracked the car using the GPS and would lift it at any opportune time after Verma returned the vehicle to its owners," he said.

Jaiswal said at least three such cases of have come to light and the matter is being investigated further.

"He claims to be a doctor, a visiting doctor at a private hospital in Greater Noida, but we are verifying his claims. His degree and work profile, whether they are true," the SP said.

Verma is a native of Baghpat district, while Sharma hails from Ghaziabad and both were arrested around 12.05 am on Wednesday in Greater Noida, he said.

Two of the stolen cars, a Maruti Swift and a Maruti Brezza, were seized from them along with a fake number plate on one of them, the police said.

A case has been registered against the two at Kasna Police station under Indian Penal Code sections 379 (theft), 420 (fraud), 482 (using false property mark), and related offences, the police said.