Delhi Police have recovered two white Toyota Fortuner SUVs bearing identical registration and chassis numbers, which they said had been moving across Delhi and other states for nearly five years, exposing a serious lapse in the vehicle registration and enforcement system.Police said the Vivek Vihar vehicle was the original SUV, while the Gandhi Nagar vehicle was carrying its registration and chassis numbers.The SUVs were recovered on Friday by the anti-auto theft squad (AATS) of west district from Gandhi Nagar and Vivek Vihar in east Delhi. Police have also arrested 23-year-old property dealer Aryan Mavi, who had been using one of the vehicles. The family that owned the other SUV had purchased it from a fraudster who is absconding.According to investigators, the case came to light after police received information that two Fortuners were operating with the same registration plates. Investigators scanned automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and CCTV footage and found the vehicles at different ends of the city within minutes. Police said they had been trying to trace the SUVs for six months.“On Friday, we finally located the vehicles in east Delhi and recovered one of them from Gandhi Nagar, and the other from Vivek Vihar,” said AATS in-charge inspector Mukesh Meena.Police said the Vivek Vihar vehicle was the original SUV, while the Gandhi Nagar vehicle was carrying its registration and chassis numbers.In 2021, police recovered an SUV carrying Pramod’s registration and chassis numbers through Vasant Kunj South police station and handed it back to him after completing legal formalities. Investigators now say that vehicle actually belonged to Dr Nishant Sharma of east Delhi, whose Fortuner was stolen that year and for which he had registered a case at Preet Vihar police station.“After Sharma’s vehicle was stolen, its registration number plate and chassis number had been altered to those of Pramod’s vehicle,” said an officer aware of the investigation.Police said neither Pramod nor the police realised the mix-up at the time. Pramod continued using the SUV after it was returned to him in 2021.Investigators said they established that these were separate vehicles through the manufacturer’s service centre.Meanwhile, Pramod’s original Fortuner was allegedly being used by Mavi, who had purchased it from Sooraj. Police said Mavi had been using the vehicle for nearly five years despite knowing that Sooraj was an absconding accused in a 2019 case involving cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.Both SUVs are currently in AATS custody. Police have informed investigators handling the 2021 theft cases registered at Gandhi Nagar and Preet Vihar, as well as the 2019 cheating case involving Sooraj and multiple victims.“We later found that Pramod had rented out his vehicle to Sooraj, who duped them and fled with the vehicles. Sooraj’s arrest and interrogation may help us ascertain how Sharma’s stolen Fortuner came to carry the registration and chassis numbers of Pramod’s vehicle,” Meena said.Deputy commissioner of police (west) Hareshwar V Swami said the recoveries were made during a special drive launched against stolen vehicles ahead of Independence Day security arrangements.