Robber held for killing Ghaziabad businessman

One of the two suspected robbers who shot dead a 55-year-old trader in Ghaziabad for resisting a robbery bid on Wednesday night has been arrested by the Delhi Police’s crime branch.

Vijendra Garg, an oil trader, was shot thrice while parking his motorcycle near his home in Nasratpura around 9pm Wednesday, prompting the trader community in the neighbourhood to launch a protest on Thursday.

The robbers had taken away his bag containing Rs 5.2 lakh, said Ram Gopal Naik, deputy commissioner of police (crime branch). “Nearly Rs 1.78 lakh of the loot has been recovered,” Naik said on Friday.

The officer identified the arrested man as 40-year-old Ritesh (single name), a resident of Ghaziabad.

“He has been involved in over 50 cases of armed robbery, snatching and theft in Delhi, the NCR and Madhya Pradesh,” the DCP said.

The officer said Ritesh was absconding after being released on bail in one of the cases. “We are verifying the status of those cases,” he said.

Police said Ritesh was nabbed near Gagan Cinema in north east Delhi’s Nand Nagri on Thursday after a tip-off that he would be arriving there to meet an associate with whom he would execute a robbery.

Ritesh was allegedly found carrying a semi-automatic pistol and three magazines,
two of which held 10 rounds each.

Ritesh was involved in vehicle thefts till 2008, before taking to armed robbery. Police said he and his partner, who remains on the run, never hesitated in shooting their victims.

First Published: Mar 02, 2019 01:30 IST