2 held for raping 65-yr-old who resisted robbery

Greater Noida: A criminal and his accomplice, who had gone on a snatching spree and also allegedly raped an elderly woman last week in Dankaur, were arrested on Friday.
The accused have been identified as Raja Mohammad (30), a resident of Rajpur in Hapur and Abdul (25), a native of Baghpat.

Piyush Kumar Singh, circle officer, Greater Noida II, said the police had received information about the movement of criminals.

“They were moving on a bike near Chiti village in Dankaur. The police signalled them to stop but they tried to speed away. They were chased and nabbed,” Singh said.

Two country-made guns, seven live cartridges, four stolen earrings, two anklets, one ring and a TVS Apache bike were seized. During interrogation, the accused said that on May 4 afternoon, they had reached Mandi Shyamnagar village on a TVS Apache bike. Their accomplice Praveen and Dilshad were on an another bike. The criminals found four women sitting outside their homes and asked them to hand over the earrings and anklets at gunpoint. The women got scared and handed over the jewellery to criminals.

The criminals fled from the spot and reached another village named Badla Khera, nearly one kilometre from Mandi Shyamnagar. Raja and Abdul found an elderly woman and her daughter-in-law outside their house. “They demanded the women to hand over the jewellery and valuables. The women said they had no jewellery, and fled inside their home. Raja barged into the house and assaulted the elderly woman for not yielding the jewellery, while Abdul stood guard outside the door. The accused then fled away on the bike after the crime,” Singh said.

Singh said the elderly woman had refused to undergo a medical examination. In her statement under Section 164 before a magistrate, she said she was raped by the accused. The accused, Praveen, was arrested two days ago while Dilshad has been absconding.

Raja said that the gang members roamed around villages and identified vulnerable spots to target women and snatch their jewellery. “Two criminals used to commit snatchings while two others stood guard to alert them in case of police arrival,” said Farmood Ali Pundir, SHO, Dankaur.

Police said that the accused were involved in 24 cases of robbery, snatching, and other criminal activities in western UP.