Cash-van heist: 2 suspects killed near Wave City

On Monday, police had said that the 21-year-old (killed on Tuesday night) was the alleged mastermind of the robbery

Ghaziabad: Nearly a week after ₹27 lakh were looted during a cash-van heist on the National Highway-9 at Bagu near Crossings Republik Township in Ghaziabad, two suspects were killed during an exchange of fire with police late Tuesday near Wave City, officials said on Wednesday, adding that the police personnel also sustained injuries.

The Ahmad’s father, Haji Tausheen, told HT on Wednesday that his eldest son, 21; younger son 20; and nephew, aged 20, had been untraceable since Wednesday last week. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police identified the deceased as a 21-year-old as Zubair Ahmad, and the other as a 23-year-old, both residents of Vijay Nagar. According to the police, the May 6 heist involved six suspects. Two of them, identified as a 20-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, were arrested on Monday.

On Tuesday, following a tip off that four suspects were travelling in a car near Wave City, police asked them to stop around 10pm. “But as police teams chased their car, they fired multiple rounds, injuring a sub-inspector and two constables. Other shots hit the bulletproof jackets of two inspectors. The suspects’ driver lost balance and stopped the car in a field and they again opened fire. In police’s retaliatory fire two suspects were injured but two others fled the spot. The injured later succumbed at night during treatment at hospital. Police recovered ₹ 9 lakh and other belongings, and seized the car,” Deputy commissioner of police DCP (city) Dhawal Jaiswal told HT.

On Monday, police had said that the 21-year-old (killed on Tuesday night) was the alleged mastermind of the robbery. He had planned it for five months, and also roped in his friends and relatives, and starting in March they mapped the routes followed by the cash van and also movements of cash van staff while filling ATMs.

The Ahmad’s father, Haji Tausheen, told HT on Wednesday that his eldest son, 21; younger son 20; and nephew, aged 20, had been untraceable since Wednesday last week.

“We had no clue if these boys were involved in planning any robbery or any crime. My family and my sons have no criminal record in the past. If the 21-year-old committed any crime, he should have been tried in a court of law and should have been punished severely,” he said.