Halt on escape route leads police to Gzb robbers
GHAZIABAD:THE Ghaziabad police on Monday claimed to have arrested four members of a gang which robbed a jewellery shop in Ghaziabad on November 14.
The officials said the conspiracy was hatched at Dasna jail. Scanning the route taken by the accused to flee led the police to vital clues leading to the arrests, police officers said.
The four accused were identified as Arush alias Malik, 30, Manoj Kumar Pandey, 35, Vinit Kumar, 22 and Yogendra Singh Bhullar. Police said Arush claimed that he was suffering from cancer and needed money for his treatment. Police said he was involved in two other robberies — one in Delhi in 2014 and another at Indirapuram in 2016. Pandey has a case of kidnapping for ransom registered against him in Loni, police said.
While Vinit is looking for job, Bhullar worked at a real estate company in Gurugram, police said. A fifth accused, at whose house they accused met for a while after the robbery, is untraceable. His accomplices said he is suffering from AIDS.
“We are verifying the claims made by the accused. Arush and Pandey were lodged in Dasna jail, where they planned to loot the jewellery shop. Arush lives in the same locality where the shop is located,” said Prashant Kumar, additional director general (Meerut zone).
The accused arranged two bikes for the robbery. They took two men at the shop hostage on gunpoint and took away gold, diamond and other jewellery items worth ₹1.22 crore.
Police officials said the robbers assembled at the house of the fifth accused in Prahlad Garhi, Vas- undhara, before parting ways. “We searched nearly all the jails in western UP and other states. The investigators got the first clue around 10 days ago while scanning the route taken by the accused to flee,” said Dr Rakesh Mishra, circle officer (Sahibabad). CCTV footage and tip-off by informants led the investigators to a house in Vasundhara. “This explained why the accused spent an extra 8 minutes in Vasundhara,” police said.
“We used electronic surveillance and other methods to find the four accused and nabbed them,” said one of the investigators.jewellery worth ₹3.5 lakh and other precious stones have so far been recovered, besides weapons and bikes used in the crime.