Those arrested are Ravi Kumar and Amanpreet Singh, both Mohali residents, Deepak Sharma, a Sector 40-A resident, Mandip Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran district, and Dilbag Singh, a resident of Kapurthala district.

The police recovered three Maruti Esteem cars, a Maruti 800, two Maruti Gypsys, one Bullet motorbike, two mobile phones and a gold ring from the five.

On a tip-off, Crime Branch officers arrested Ravi Kumar and Deepak Sharma first. Both were interrogated thoroughly and on their disclosure, raids were conducted at various places in Chandigarh and Punjab after which the rest of the accused were arrested and the stolen vehicles recovered.

“Dilbagh Singh alias Bagga had stolen a government Maruti Gypsy (CH-01-G1-0403), which belongs to the Executive Engineering Division No. 6, Sector 9, Chandigarh. He was caught driving the vehicle, with a fake registration number, in Sultanpur Lodhi. While the other accused were sent to judicial custody, Dilbagh has been taken on police remand for custodial interrogation. We expect more recoveries from him,” said SI Jaspal Bhullar, member of the Crime Branch team investigating the case.

The police said the accused were committing thefts during the early hours. They had got numerous masterkeys made, with the help of which they would open vehicles easily, particularly Maruti models. After changing number plates, they would to take the vehicles out of the city immediately to avoid getting caught, they said.