Suspect held for robbing stable owner of four horses

Gurugram: Faridabad police arrested a 27-year-old suspect from Bhiwani on Wednesday for allegedly robbing a stable owner of four horses after taking him hostage at gunpoint in 2018, police said on Thursday

Gurugram: Faridabad police arrested a 27-year-old suspect from Bhiwani on Wednesday for allegedly robbing a stable owner of four horses after taking him hostage at gunpoint in 2018, police said on Thursday.

Suspect held for robbing stable owner of four horses

Police said the matter came to light after the stable owner reported the robbery in November 2018. The horses used to be given on rent for weddings, police added.

Police said more than a dozen cases were registered against a gang for stealing horses from quite a few Haryana districts since the year 2015.

According to police, they received a complaint on November 4, 2018 from Khadda Colony in Kheri Pul area of Faridabad about the robbery incident. A police team was sent to the spot and they found that four horses that were used in weddings were robbed at gunpoint.

Bijender Singh, an assistant sub-inspector at Faridabad police, said that after the incident, teams were formed to arrest the suspects, but despite raids in at least 25 locations, police were not able to trace them.

“We collected mobile numbers of relatives and friends of the suspects and they were put under surveillance. Earlier this week, we received a tip-off that the kingpin of the gang will visit Bhiwani for some work and teams were deployed in plain clothes and one of the suspects was arrested,” Singh said.

The suspect has been identified as Deepak Kumar, who is a resident of Bhiwani, said police.

Singh said that since November 2018, police teams visited Hansi, Bhiwani, Hissar, Faridabad and Dadri in search of the suspects. “Kumar frequently changed his mobile number and travelled to a lot of places. He gave horses and mares on rent for weddings and earned good profit,” he said.

During interrogation, the suspect confessed that he along with his three accomplices raided a stable in Faridabad area and had held the caretaker at gunpoint before fleeing with four horses, said police.

Singh said the suspects were aware that police were on the lookout for them and they moved to Hisar, Hansi and then Dadri. “The gang used to earn more than ₹2 lakh on a monthly basis from the stolen horses. They rented the animals for weddings and had stolen more than 20 horses and mares from districts across Haryana,” he said.

A case under Section 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Arms Act was registered against the suspect at Kheri Pul police station, police added.