Ghaziabad: Six arrested over ₹38 lakh robbery of shopkeeper

Officers said that the involvement of suspects came to the fore through their mobile locations, CCTVs, and other inputs

Ghaziabad: Six suspects were arrested during crackdown and checking operations on late Wednesday night for being allegedly involved in the late-night loot of cash from a shopkeeper near the Hindon Pushta Road near Vasundhara earlier this week, officers said on Thursday.

Three unidentified people riding a motorcycle intercepted Bishnoi’s scooter around 10.30pm on July 14 and made off with his bag containing cash. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The arrested suspects were identified as Mukul Singh, 24, Nitesh Kumar, 25, Surendra Kumar, 24, Akash Kumar, 22, Vivek Singh, 20, Vishal Singh, 24, said officers, adding that Mukul Singh and Nitesh Kumar work for Bishnoi at his shop at Vaishali.

“The two knew that Bishnoi often carried huge amounts of cash on his scooter. So, they, along with their accomplices, planned the robbery. Surendra, Akash and Sachin (absconding) were on a bike and robbed Bishnoi. Their other accomplices were on bikes near to the spot. After the robbery, they all gathered at Vishal’s Habibpur house in Noida and later dispersed with their shares,” said ACP (Indirapuram circle) Abhishek Srivastava.

Officers said that the involvement of suspects came to the fore through their mobile locations, CCTVs, and other inputs.

Senior police officers estimate that at least 10 suspects were involved in planning and execution of the Monday night incident, in which the shopkeeper, Pravesh Bishnoi, was robbed off about ₹38 lakh.

Additional CP Alok Priyadarshi said that six suspects were arrested while teams are trying to trace four others.

To be sure, three unidentified people riding a motorcycle intercepted Bishnoi’s scooter around 10.30pm on July 14 and made off with his bag containing cash. Police later registered an FIR under BNS section 309(4) (robbery) at Indirapuram police station on July 15 following a police complaint.

The complainant did not disclose the amount of cash lost in the FIR, but later told police it was estimated to be about ₹38 lakh, said additional police commissioner Alok Priyadarshi, adding that six suspects were arrested while teams are trying to trace four others.

“The suspects are from Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Bulandshahr. We have recovered a total of about ₹23 lakhs in cash from their possession. A total of 10 people were involved in the case. We will also try to recover the remaining amount once the absconding suspects are arrested. The complainant did not disclose the amount of cash lost during the incident in the FIR. He has been asked to disclose the source of the amount. If he fails, the matter will be conveyed to the income-tax department,” Priyadarshi said.

ACP Srivastava had earlier claimed that the amount of cash robbed was estimated at about ₹4-5 lakh.