Electrical equipment theft gang busted, six arrested after encounter in Muzaffarnagar

Three of the suspects — Md Chand alias Samar, Danish and Qayyum — sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire behind a workshop near Bagowali around 11pm, police said, adding that the accused were arrested and hospitalised.

With the arrest of six suspects following an encounter on National Highway-58 late Friday night, Muzaffarnagar police busted an inter-district gang allegedly involved in stealing electrical wires, transformers and other equipment, officials said on Saturday.

Police said five illegal country-made pistols, live and spent cartridges, two bundles of electrical wire and around 125kg of aluminium parts were recovered from the accused. (For representation)

Three of the suspects — Md Chand alias Samar, Danish and Qayyum — sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire behind a workshop near Bagowali around 11pm, police said, adding that the accused were arrested and hospitalised.

Police said they received information that members of the gang had gathered behind the workshop to sell stolen electrical equipment. Acting on the tip-off, police cordoned off the area and asked the suspects to surrender.

However, the suspects allegedly opened fire at the police and tried to flee. The police retaliated, injuring three of them, officials said.

Following the encounter, police launched a combing operation in the surrounding area and arrested three more alleged gang members — Chetan Chaudhary, Ali alias Iqbal and Monish Khan.

Police said five illegal country-made pistols, live and spent cartridges, two bundles of electrical wire and around 125kg of aluminium parts were recovered from the accused. An SUV and a hatchback were also found at the spot.

Deputy superintendent of police Raju Kumar Sab said the suspects disclosed during interrogation that the gang had allegedly been operating in Muzaffarnagar as well as different districts of the National Capital Region (NCR).

The gang allegedly targeted electrical infrastructure, including wires, transformers and other equipment. Police teams had been deployed to trace the gang following a series of thefts in the district, on the directions of senior superintendent of police Sanjay Kumar Verma, the officer said.

Sab said the suspects had gathered near Bagowali to dispose of stolen material when police acted on the information, leading to the encounter.

During interrogation, the accused also told police that they had committed a theft at the meat plant of former UP minister Yaqub Qureshi in Meerut, the CO said.

Officials said police were questioning the six arrested suspects to identify other alleged members of the gang and establish their involvement in previous theft cases.