The stolen vehicle that was seized on Saturday. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, Jan. 4: Three persons, including a resident of Nepal, were arrested yesterday on charges of lifting a vehicle from Iskcon Mandir Road here on the night of December 31. The stolen vehicle was also seized.

Of the accused, Deepraj Tamang and Ritraj Tamang are residents of Lankapara Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri district, while Pradesh Karki hails from Kakarvita in eastern Nepal.

“The gang used to lift vehicles from Siliguri and Jalpaiguri districts and send them to Nepal, Bihar and other states. We suspect that they had also smuggled several vehicles into other north-eastern states as well,” said Manoj Verma, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri, today. “We are looking for the other members of the gang.”

An official of Bhaktinagar police station said early in the morning yesterday, they came to know that the gang was ready to flee with a stolen Tata Spacio Gold. “Immediately, we raided Lower Bhanunagar and intercepted the vehicle with the accused. When chased, the gang members tried to fire at us with an improvised firearm, but it did not work as it got locked. We arrested the three but two others managed to escape,” the official said. The seized vehicle was the one stolen on December 31.

According to the officer, the gang has already smuggled a number of vehicles and motorcycles from the region. Deepraj, who used to drive away the stolen cars, had alone lifted 35 vehicles from here before taking them to different locations including Nepal and Bihar over the last couple of months. “The members also used to work as carriers of stolen vehicles from one to another place. They got Rs 10,000 per trip,” the official said.