Vehicle thieves held after shoot-out near Sector 34 Marble Market

According to the police, they were tipped off that the gang was waiting near Subhash Chowk, where they intercepted them, following which they fled towards Sector 34 Marble Market and a gunbattle ensued between the two groups. However, no one was injured in the incident and the thieves were nabbed

Four alleged criminals from Rajasthan, whose role is suspected in a series of vehicle thefts, were arrested after a shoot-out near the Marble Market in Sector 34 on Saturday night.

The vehicle thieves fired upon the police vehicle when intercepted near Bakhtawar Chowk and fled towards the Marble Market in Sector 34 where a shoot-out ensued. (Representational image/Shutterstock)

According to the police, they were tipped off that the gang was waiting near Subhash Chowk, where they intercepted them, following which they fled towards Sector 34 and a gunbattle ensued between the two groups. However, no one was injured in the incident and the thieves were nabbed, the police said.

A case was registered against the accused, identified as Akeel alias Akka, Rakesh Kumar Meena, Azzrudin alias Azzu and Rinku Meena, all Rajasthan natives, at the Sadar police station under sections 307, 353, 186 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act.

A spokesperson for the city police said that acting upon a tip-off, the crime team of Sector 39 was patrolling the area around Bakhtawar Chowk when they spotted a Swift Dzire car without a number plate. When the police approached them, they started the car and sped away towards the Marble Market in Sector 34. Despite repeated warnings, they did not stop and fired shots at the police vehicle, the spokesperson said.

“The vehicle of the accused suffered a tyre burst and it slowed them. The police team chasing them managed to stop their car and arrest them before they could flee,” Subhash Boken, spokesperson, Gurugram police, said.

Boken said that sub-inspector Raj Kumar, the in-charge of the Sector 39 crime team, fired four shots in the air in the retaliatory firing but no one was injured in the incident.

The police said upon questioning the four, Akeel alias Akka was identified as the kingpin of the gang, who is a repeat offender and was booked in more than 12 cases. He is an expert lock picker and took only a couple of minutes to steal a vehicle, the police said.

According to the police, Akka used to hire accomplices for ₹2,000 per day to take the stolen vehicles to Rajasthan and other designated areas, where motorcycles were sold for ₹8,000 to ₹10,000, while cars were sold for ₹30,000 to ₹50,000.