11 days on, 4 arrested for robbing teacher’s car at gunpoint in Ghaziabad’s Loni

The suspects targeted the teacher because they had observed her passing through an isolated stretch in Loni

The Ghaziabad police arrested three men on Monday who robbed a school teacher’s car at gunpoint on a road in Loni on October 26, and another man who helped them and recovered the stolen car from their possession, police officers aware of the matter said. The suspects targeted the teacher because they had observed her passing through an isolated stretch in Loni, said investigators.

The three main suspects in police custody on Monday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The incident occurred on the afternoon of October 26 when Sarita Verma, who teaches at a government primary school in Sirora-Salempur, was returning home to Sahibabad’s Rajendra Nagar in her Honda Amaze car. While passing through an isolated stretch near Loni’s Dharipur village at 3.10pm, she saw a bike parked in the middle of the road and three men standing beside it.

As soon as she neared the bike, the three men pointed guns at her and forced her to exit the vehicle. Two of them got into the car and drove away in it, while the third one fled on the motorbike, leaving Verma on the scene, said investigators.

Verma then approached the police and filed a complaint, based on which a first information report for robbery was registered at Loni police station.

“On late Sunday night, one of our teams spotted a bike rider behaving suspiciously during a routine checking operation and asked him to halt. But the rider fired on the police team. In retaliatory fire, the man was shot in the leg and arrested. He identified himself as Dipanshu Pal, 19, and said that he and his accomplices had robbed a woman of her car on October 26. Dipanshu told us that his accomplices would come to meet him on Monday, and together they would go to together to sell the car to earn some money before the festive season,” said Rajneesh Kumar Upadhyaya, assistant commissioner of police of Loni.

According to the police, Dipanshu had often spotted Verma pass through the isolated stretch near Dharipur village while returning home, so he decided to steal her vehicle with the help of his accomplices.

Based on Dipanshu’s information, the police arrested Sagar Kumar, 20, Prince Singh alias Kaluwa, 20, and their accomplice Rohit Kumar, 21, early Monday morning.

According to the police, Dipanshu, Sagar, and Prince robbed Verma at gunpoint on October 26, while Rohit had provided them with his bike for the purpose. Rohit’s bike, which was also a stolen one, was recovered from Dipanshu. Investigators said that the suspects had observed Verma’s routine and conducted a recce of the scene several times before October 26.

“After the incident, Prince hid the car in Gautam Budh Nagar. On Monday, when they returned to meet Dipanshu before selling off the car, we arrested them in Loni. Ashu, one of their accomplices who is also from Gautam Budh Nagar, is at large at present and will be arrested soon. He was also involved in planning the car loot,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (rural).