Six, including house help, held for robbing house in G Noida

Noida: Six suspects were arrested by Gautam Budh Nagar police on Sunday for allegedly robbing the house of a merchant navy officer in Greater Noida while holding his family hostage on September 5

Noida: Six suspects were arrested by Gautam Budh Nagar police on Sunday for allegedly robbing the house of a merchant navy officer in Greater Noida while holding his family hostage on September 5.

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Police said that the entire robbery was planned by the house help along with her friends whom she called from Shahjahanpur. Police added that the house help had been working for over eight years and gained trust of the entire family. She was also aware of where the valuables were kept in the house.

The suspects have been identified as Seema (the house help), her husband Sandeep, Aman (Sandeep’s friend), Jhankar Singh (Aman’s father), Pinki (Jhankar’s wife) and Rahul Verma, a jeweller who was going to buy the stolen items. All the suspects except the jeweller were neighbours in Surajpur area of Greater Noida. They hailed from Shahjahanpur and Farrukhabad, police said.

“Around six robbers allegedly barged into the house in Beta 1 sector of Greater Noida on September 5 and held the family captive before fleeing away with valuables worth over ₹2 lakh. The complainant Sarvagya Jain is a merchant navy officer who had left home at 2am to catch a flight and the incident took place at around 2.30am,” said Abhishek Verma, deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida).

DCP Verma added that three teams from the Beta 2 police station investigated the case. They soon found out that the entire plan was hatched by Seema, her husband Sandeep along with their friend Aman.

At the time of the incident, the complainant’s wife, mother and 10-year-old son were in the house.

“Seema also knew that the complainant would be leaving at 2am,” said DCP Verma.

Police said that Aman was a friend of Sandeep and Seema and had also worked in the house before to take care of the complainant’s father-in-law for two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seema, Sandeep and Aman informed Aman’s father Jhankar about the jewellery, cash, foreign currency and other valuables in the house. Jhankar took help from the notorious ‘Pankhiya’ gang active in Shahjahanpur and other neighbouring districts and informed them about the valuables in the house.

According to police, the ‘Pankhiya’ gang is a nomadic group that has been involved in multiple theft and robbery cases across Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Kushinagar, Etah and other districts.

“Two days before the robbery, Aman and Seema also took the gang of robbers and showed them around the house. During investigation, we came to know that the robbers had entered the house through a neighbour’s house that was vacant,” said DCP Verma.

Police said that they received a tip-off from informants that the suspects were going to hide in Ganga ki Katri area of Shahjahanpur. They were also in touch with a jeweller. Based on the information, the six suspects were arrested from Alpha 1 commercial belt Metro station and Champat Colony in Surajpur.

Police recovered ₹20,000 cash, a handycam, foreign currency, gold and silver jewellery and other valuables from the suspects. Police said that they are also looking for the ‘Pankhiya’ gang members who were involved in the robbery.

A case has been filed against the suspects under Section 395 (dacoity), 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in a dacoity), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police added.