Delhi Police bust gang of interstate highway robbers, arrest 2

New Delhi: The crime branch of Delhi Police said on Monday they busted a gang of interstate highway robbers and arrested two of its members who robbed passengers after offering them rides in their private taxi at low fares

New Delhi: The crime branch of Delhi Police said on Monday they busted a gang of interstate highway robbers and arrested two of its members who robbed passengers after offering them rides in their private taxi at low fares.

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The arrested men along with their accomplice, who is on the run, had robbed an Uttarakhand resident of ₹8,500 and his ATM card after offering him a ride to his destination from Anand Vihar bus terminal in the early hours of July 14, the police said,

The trio forced the passenger to call his family members and deposit some money into his bank account. Thereafter, they withdrew ₹8,500 using his debit card and dropped him at a secluded area in Greater Noida, after driving him around Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for nearly two-and-a-half hours, police said.

The arrested men were identified as Mehraj, 32, from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and Gulzar alias Gullu, 39, from Ghaziabad in UP. Police seized the taxi and mobile phones used during the crime as well.

To avoid detection and mislead the police, they had replaced the original registration number plate of the taxi with that of an old car that one of them owned until a few years ago, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rohit Meena said.

“The arrest of Gulzar and Mehraj has helped us solve three cases of abduction and robbery that the gang members had committed in UP’s Meerut, Ghaziabad and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi in the recent past. The gang members were previously involved in a case of robbery of a Canadian pilot in 2019. They were arrested and released from jail in June this year,” the DCP added.

Police said Mehraj, a taxi driver, is a habitual criminal and was previously involved in 11 cases registered in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The robberies were committed in his taxi. Gulzar is a plumber and was previously arrested by the Haryana police in a robbery case, DCP Meena said.