Mehtab Singh, MBBS doctor, held for stealing cars

Ludhiana, April 15, 2004
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Just a week after being released on bail in a car theft case, Mehtab Singh, an MBBS doctor, is again in the police net with the local railway police arresting him today for stealing two more cars from Mohali and Chandigarh.

Described as an ‘incorrigible’ car thief by police officials, the case of Mehtab Singh is one of a talented youth gone awfully wrong, thanks to his addiction to drugs. Youngest of the five “well- placed” children of a Kharar town based retired school headmaster, the accused is already facing six cases of car theft in Ludhiana, Moga and Chandigarh.

In January this year, he was caught by the Sarabha Nagar police here for stealing a car. He was locked in the Central Jail here under judicial custody and was later taken away to Chandigarh on production remand. He was released on bail on April 7 and was caught today.

Sources said Gurnam Singh, SHO, Government Railway Police (GRP), got a tip-off that some person was trying to sell parts of a car, which seemed to be stolen. He laid a trap for the man and caught him in the act on the premises of the railway station only.

A white Maruti car, CH-01P-9600, belonging to a senior doctor at PGI, Chandigarh, has been recovered from the accused. He had stolen it from the car parking. The car owner, Dr V.M. Gupta, who reached here after he was informed by the police, said he was shocked that a member of his own community had committed the crime. “It is a pity,” he said, adding that he was more sad than anguished at the case. He said he would try to arrange some rehabilitation for the youth.

Talking to The Tribune at the GRP police station, the accused, Mehtab Singh revealed that he had fallen in bad company while doing MBBS and was hooked to drugs. His favourite was Proxyvon capsules. He admitted that he started stealing cars to arrange money for the drugs.

Police sources said they had contacted his father over the phone but he had refused to come to his son’s aid. A police official claimed that the aged father was upset about his son and said he had already disowned him. The family had rescued him in the past and got him admitted to some drug de-addiction centre but the accused escaped.

Mehtab claimed he had got a job in a private hospital in Dehradun and was earning enough. However, he was not able to explain why was he used to steal cars. He admitted that he wanted money but also insisted that it was more of an obsession with him, “I just go mad and steal vehicles.”

He uses a master key and his favourite is a Maruti white car. He said it was very simple to open any car with his master key.

Police sources said the accused had stolen another car from Mohali on the same day. He had parked the car no. HR-51-0072 in car parking at the PGI car parking. He claimed he did not have enough money and the car from Mohali had run out of petrol due to which he stole the doctor’s car.