3, including home guard, held for duping trader

NOIDA: A home guard jawan attached with the Noida police was among three persons nabbed by the Sector 39 police from Meerut on Saturday, for allegedly stealing 30 kilograms of silver from a trader.

The incident had taken place on January 13 around 7am, when the driver of an Agrabased businessman was robbed by two men in police uniform near Sector 93. The driver was on his way back with seven silver ingots, of which one was stolen allegedly by the suspects, claiming an “official investigation” of the goods. A case of cheating had been registered at the Sector 39 police station in this regard.

The suspects were identified as Vikrant Singh, Shaukinder Kumar and Dharmendra, residents of Bulandshahr, Meerut and Ghaziabad, respectively. Police officers said that Vikrant, a home guard jawan, was deployed with the Sector 20 police station but had been away from work for the past five to six months. Shaukinder was a jeweller who was allegedly going to buy the stolen silver, while Dharmendra was allegedly the mediator between the robbers and the jeweller, and worked on commission. They had all allegedly known each other for the past few years, said the police.

“Vikrant, along with another person, who is also a home guard jawan and is currently absconding, had intercepted the driver on January 13. They pretended to be from a government department and while claiming that the silver should be collected from a police station, they fled the spot with the goods,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Zone 1, Kumar Ranvijay Singh. Police traced the suspects to a jeweller in Meerut where the precious metal was allegedly about to be sold.

“All three suspects were apprehended from the jewellery shop along with the stolen goods which they were about to sell. The KTM motorcycle used in the incident was also recovered,” said the ADCP.

Police, however, did not reveal how the suspects were traced.

Officers said the suspects were allegedly small-time extortionists who used to extort money from auto drivers on the Noida-greater Noida expressway. They said police are looking at other cases in which they may have been involved. A search is on for the other home guard jawan involved in the incident.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.