Ghaziabad: Two held for abduction, robbery of businessman in Kavi Nagar

Police said early Monday, they tried to stop two suspects on a motorcycle near Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park but they opened fire at the police party and one head constable sustained a gunshot wound

Following an early morning crackdown on Monday, police arrested two suspects who were allegedly held two businessmen hostage in their car and fled with a huge amount of cash on the night of December 5 from Kavi Nagar industrial area.

One of the arrested suspects sustained a gunshot wound to the leg in the brief gunfight with police on Monday morning. (HT Photo)

Police said early Monday, they tried to stop two suspects on a motorcycle near Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park but they opened fire at the police party and one head constable sustained a gunshot wound. Police said one of the two suspects sustained a gunshot wound to his leg after they returned the fire.

The police identified the two suspects as Nitin Sharma, who sustained a gunshot wound, and his accomplice Saurabh Kumar Sirohi. After the arrests, police said the cash they looted from the businessmen was in the range of ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore.

“Police received information that suspects of the robbery case were in Kavi Nagar. After their arrest, police also recovered about ₹32.5 lakh of the loot from their possession. Sirohi is the same man who was “abducted” along with victim Nishant Sarwaiya during the robbery incident on December 5,” said Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police (Kavi Nagar).

According to police, on December 5, jeweller Nishant Sarwaiya, 40, a resident of Indirapuram, met with his business acquaintance Sirohi in Kavi Nagar, around 8pm, to collect a payment from him. Police said Sirohi is engaged in handling cash transfers for his various clients.

Investigators said while the two were sitting in Sarwaiya’s car, three unidentified men overpowered them and held them hostage at gunpoint before driving them towards National Highway 9 (NH-9).

The suspects dumped Sirohi near Wave City on NH-9 and Sarwaiya near the Dasna interchange of Eastern Peripheral Expressway.

Sirohi, who had his mobile phone with him, did not call up police and instead, returned to his flat in Crossings Republik. Sarwaiya took a ride from a passing vehicle and reached Kavi Nagar police station to register an FIR.

The Kavi Nagar police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 394 (causing hurt while committing or attempting robbery) and 342 (wrongful confinement) against unidentified suspects.

“Sirohi and several of his absconding accomplices had planned the robbery in order to get Sarwaiya’s money. Sirohi knew Sarwaiya and had information about his dealings. The police investigation revealed his involvement as his conduct was suspicious from the beginning. The two suspects have been arrested and are being interrogated to find more about the other suspects,” the ACP said.

The police said four teams are trying to trace and arrest the absconding suspects.