Ghaziabad: Two arrested for robbing couple in car near NH-9

According to police, the couple -- Manoj Kumar, 35, and his wife, Sudha, 32 -- were travelling in their Renault KWID to their native place in Bhojpur when they were waylaid by the suspects and robbed of their mobile phone

The Ghaziabad police in a late night crackdown arrested two robbery suspects who allegedly robbed a couple in their car on the canal road near National Highway 9 (NH-9) under the jurisdiction of Masuri police station area on the night of January 21.

The motorcycle used by the suspects to rob a husband and wife, who were travelling by car on canal road near NH-9 (HT Photo)

The police identified the suspects as Shiva Kumar alias Kalu, 21, and Santi Kumar, 20, both residents of Muradnagar. The officers said the two, along with two of their accomplices, allegedly robbed the couple around 11.15pm on the canal road on January 21.

According to police, the couple -- Manoj Kumar, 35, and his wife, Sudha, 32 -- were travelling in their Renault KWID to their native place in Bhojpur. They operated a dry-cleaning shop in Raj Nagar Extension which was shut down as they were relocating to Bhojpur.

“Midway on the canal road, a man came in front of our car, forcing us to stop. He was by three others as soon as I stopped. They were armed with sharp edged weapons, rods and sticks. They asked us to get out but we did not. So, they started landing blows on our car. In between, my wife (Sudha, 32) identified one man as a vegetable vendor who play his trade in our locality. When they realised that we recognised one of them, they fled with my mobile phone. We then informed the police,” Manoj Kumar said in the FIR lodged at Masuri police station.

An FIR was registered on his complaint under Indian Penal Code sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt during robbery) and 427 (causing damages).

“Using the details shared by the couple, we nabbed one suspect, Mohammad Abid, 20, on Monday. He revealed the names of his three accomplices and told us that they often robbed people travelling on the isolated stretch of the canal road. Our teams on Tuesday night spotted two men on a bike on canal road. They opened fire at the police personnel when asked to stop. In the retaliatory fire, one suspect (Shiva) suffered a gunshot wound to his leg and both men were nabbed,” said Naresh Kumar, assistant commissioner of police (Masuri).

The officials said a hunt is one to trace and arrest the fourth suspect.