GHAZIABAD: Five robbers were arrested on Saturday for their involvement in a daylight armed robbery at a doctor's clinic in Vasundhara's Sector 2 on November 28. Police recovered Rs 2.60 lakh and jewellery and phones looted from the house, besides the arms and two bikes used in the crime. One of their accomplices are on the run, police added.
Six robbers had allegedly looted around Rs 5 lakh from the clinic-cum-house of Dr Neeraj Agrawal (42) and his gynecologist wife Surabhi located in Sector 2, Vasundhara on November 28. The accused committed the crime in broad daylight by entering the clinic on the pretext of getting a patient treated.
The men took the doctor hostage at gunpoint after entering his chamber at around 9.45am. The assailants had their faces covered with shawls and helmets. They emptied almirahs in his living quarters on the first floor of cash using keys extorted from the doctor. Two persons, who run shops across the road from the clinic, were also taken hostage when they approached the clinic sensing trouble.
The six men had arrived on two bikes whose registration plates were covered with white paper sheets.
Notably, as many as 22 cases including loot of Rs 23 lakh from an animal trader in Bulandshahr in 2016, besides several loots in Meerut and Jaipur are registered against them.
Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police (SSP) HN Singh said the foundation of this crime was laid in 2015 by a maid who worked there at the household at that time. "She had informed her brother-in-law Rajeev about the presence of amount up to Rs 1 crore in the house. At that time a recce was also conducted, but the heist could not take place after Rajeev and his accomplice failed to assemble the gang members. Then demonetization happened last year and the accused kept quiet for a year before committing the crime, the SSP added.
The accused who were arrested on Saturday are Gaurav Thakur, Yogendra Pal, Sonu, Deepak and Ballu. The sixth accused who is on the run is Ram Jatav alias Lambu. According to the police, Sonu, against whom 10 cases are registered alone, is the mastermind of the Vasundhara heist.
"The accused had conducted a recce of the doctor's house on November 11. Their modus operandi is to befriend servants, maids or drivers working in posh colonies and extort information about their employers from them. Rajeev had come in contact with Sonu in Muzaffarnagar jail in 2015 itself. All the six are not members of a single gang, but worked together in many loot cases," informed SHO (Indirapuram) SC Dubey.
The role of Rajeev in the present loot case is being investigated, as prima facie his involvement has not been found so far, police added.
The SSP informed that the accused were traced on the basis of CCTV footage and bikes used in the incident. "The locals helped us in identifying the bike. Our enquiry revealed that bikes were registered on a fake address. It was actually a vacant plot, but our investigation fetched result and accused were caught from Kanawani Pusta on Saturday morning," the official said.
The SSP announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the Indirapuram police team which solved the case in four days.
Six robbers had allegedly looted around Rs 5 lakh from the clinic-cum-house of Dr Neeraj Agrawal (42) and his gynecologist wife Surabhi located in Sector 2, Vasundhara on November 28. The accused committed the crime in broad daylight by entering the clinic on the pretext of getting a patient treated.
The men took the doctor hostage at gunpoint after entering his chamber at around 9.45am. The assailants had their faces covered with shawls and helmets. They emptied almirahs in his living quarters on the first floor of cash using keys extorted from the doctor. Two persons, who run shops across the road from the clinic, were also taken hostage when they approached the clinic sensing trouble.
The six men had arrived on two bikes whose registration plates were covered with white paper sheets.
Notably, as many as 22 cases including loot of Rs 23 lakh from an animal trader in Bulandshahr in 2016, besides several loots in Meerut and Jaipur are registered against them.
Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police (SSP) HN Singh said the foundation of this crime was laid in 2015 by a maid who worked there at the household at that time. "She had informed her brother-in-law Rajeev about the presence of amount up to Rs 1 crore in the house. At that time a recce was also conducted, but the heist could not take place after Rajeev and his accomplice failed to assemble the gang members. Then demonetization happened last year and the accused kept quiet for a year before committing the crime, the SSP added.
The accused who were arrested on Saturday are Gaurav Thakur, Yogendra Pal, Sonu, Deepak and Ballu. The sixth accused who is on the run is Ram Jatav alias Lambu. According to the police, Sonu, against whom 10 cases are registered alone, is the mastermind of the Vasundhara heist.
"The accused had conducted a recce of the doctor's house on November 11. Their modus operandi is to befriend servants, maids or drivers working in posh colonies and extort information about their employers from them. Rajeev had come in contact with Sonu in Muzaffarnagar jail in 2015 itself. All the six are not members of a single gang, but worked together in many loot cases," informed SHO (Indirapuram) SC Dubey.
The role of Rajeev in the present loot case is being investigated, as prima facie his involvement has not been found so far, police added.
The SSP informed that the accused were traced on the basis of CCTV footage and bikes used in the incident. "The locals helped us in identifying the bike. Our enquiry revealed that bikes were registered on a fake address. It was actually a vacant plot, but our investigation fetched result and accused were caught from Kanawani Pusta on Saturday morning," the official said.
The SSP announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the Indirapuram police team which solved the case in four days.
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