Three youths later identified as Raj Kumar, Anil Chauhan and Pankaj Thakur were arrested near the IIT campus yesterday after they were found travelling in a stolen Maruti Esteem.

It was later found that the youths were involved in at least 40 cases of auto theft, though only three cars were recovered at their instance till today. Most of the stolen cars were sold in Nepal.

In a separate breakthrough, the Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of the Delhi Police caught two auto-lifters -- Ramjani and Rajesh -- who are believed to be involved in 80 cases of auto theft, mostly from south Delhi.

The police have recovered 33 cars from places like Delhi and Bhillai. More vehicles are expected to be recovered when AATS teams return from Kochi and Mathura.

Rajmani and Rajesh were arrested after the police started looking for the remaining members of the Pushpinder gang, 14 of whom were arrested in March. More than 100 stolen cars were recovered from them.

It was found that a few days after the arrest of their associates, Rajmani and Rajesh resumed their operation in south Delhi with new members.

Additional DCP (south) R.S. Ghuman said the gang used to target new Maruti cars in posh residential areas of south Delhi. Once they spotted an unattended car, one of the members of the gang would use a foot-rule to open the doors and after drilling through the ignition locking, drive away the car.

The other members of the gang would lead the way in another car, keeping their associate informed about police movement and position of barricades over a cellular phone.

A sticker reading ``PRESS'' was also fixed on the vehicle soon after it was stolen. Most of the stolen Marutis were driven to various cities in India and sold with fake registration papers.

Ghuman said Raj Kumar, Anil Chauhan and Pankaj Thakur -- all in their early twenties -- were arrested near IIT following a special drive against youths in the age group of 20-25 years travelling in two-wheelers and Maruti cars.

When the youths, travelling in a blue Maruti Esteem, were stopped, they failed to prove that they owned the car. It was also found that the driver was not carrying a license.

What settled the matter for the police was the recovery of a fake registration number plate in the trunk of the car. Subsequent investigations revealed that the car had been stolen from Defence Colony on July 23. The police are now trying to arrest their associate in Nepal.

``With their arrest, we have more or less caught all the organised gangs operating in South Delhi,'' said Ghuman.