Blue Baleno menace: Cops struggle to nab 2 assailants behind dozens of loots, snatchings

NOIDA: Gautam Budh Nagar police are on their toes looking for a blue Baleno which is suspected to be behind a number of robberies that have occurred in Noida-Greater Noida over the past two months.

With the latest incident being of a theft of a lawyer’s car from Sector 24 police station, two Baleno-borne assailants have been identified by the cops to be behind the robberies.

While the accused seem to have been active in Sector 24, 20, 39 police stations, Surajpur and Phase II police stations, the crime branch has also been roped in the chase for the accused.

TOI had reported on January 13 that a new blue Baleno belonging to a real estate dealer Anurag Kukreti was allegedly looted by two Santro-borne assailants at gunpoint near the Amrapali Sapphire society on the night of January 11.

The accused had allegedly asked some address from the victim twice and intercepted the car as the target got suspicious when they repeated their query for the third time.

According to Anurag’s relatives, the car was new and was yet to get a permanent number.

“We have been informed by police that around the same spot, another man was looted of his belongings in January itself,” Anurag’s sister Akanksha told TOI.

A senior officer of the Gautam Budh Nagar police told TOI that the different incidents of loot and snatching that have been carried out by two assailants each in at least six police stations, are being investigated.

“We are investigating the incidents. It is being suspected that the blue Baleno is being used to carry out the snatchings and loots. There have been incidents in Sector 39 police station, Sector 24 police station, Surajpur and Phase II, etc,” he said.

TOI had reported at least three incidents of loot took place in Phase II and Sector 39 areas between Janaury 19-21.

These included loot of a mobile phone and purse from a teacher and purse when he was walking to Chhalera, Sector 44 from Botanical Garden metro station around 11pm on January 19.

In Sector 168, bike-borne assailants had allegedly looted a woman’s gold chain at gunpoint when she was headed towards the private company she works for.

Navjeet Singh, investigating officer in the Baleno loot case, told TOI that they are not only trying to verify the involvement of the assailants in the Baleno car loot case in other incidents, but are also trying to find out whether they were involved in a theft case lodged in the Sector 39 police station area some days ago.

“Two assailants with distinct built– one of them thin while another slightly overweight - have been found to be involved. We are trying to nab them,” a police officer said.

Cops suspect that the accused are trying to use the car in different cases by using fake number plates on every occasion.

“It did not have a number plate and hence, it seems to be easy for them to change number plates in every incident,” another officer said.

Meanwhile, the certainty about the Baleno being used in the activities seems to have come from the latest incident of robbery against the Gautam Budh Nagar bar association secretary Lalit Sharma, who has described to police how two assailants arrived in a blue Baleno and intercepted his vehicle near the Spice Mall.

Sharma was robbed of his gold rings and bracelet on Wednesday morning.

Circle Officer I Dr Kaustubh told TOI that teams have been formed to look into the cases.

“The crime branch is also investigating the case,” he said.