Suspect held from Nepal-UP border in robbery from cab driver case in Greater Noida
Noida police arrested Ashish Awasthi for assaulting and robbing a cab driver. Trainee SI Mishra was also arrested, leading to the dismissal of senior officers.
The Noida police has arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly assaulting and robbing a cab driver earlier with month, officials said on Thursday. The main accused in the case, a trainee sub inspector, was dismissed from duty and arrested after the case came to light earlier this month. The case has also led to the shunting of multiple senior police officials for alleged inaction, officials added.
The accused was identified as Ashish Awasthi, a resident of Greater Noida West, who owns a car rental service company. He was arrested near the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal border on Wednesday by the Noida Police and a Verna car with Delhi registration plates was recovered from his possession.
“He was on the run for several days after the arrest of trainee SI Amit Mishra. The two had allegedly assaulted and robbed a cab driver, Rupesh Tomar, on August 2 near Gaur City in Greater Noida West,” said Shakti Mohan Avasthy, deputy commissioner of police, Central Noida.
On August 2, Tomar was allegedly stopped by Mishra and few others near Gaur City, where he had come to drop a passenger.
According to the cab driver’s complaint, the trainee SI Mishra and his associate Awasthi beat him and took away ₹7,000 cash from him. Tomar claims to have visited multiple police outposts and stations to complain, but no action was taken. Finally, on August 5, he submitted a written complaint to Noida police commissioner Laxmi Singh, who ordered an investigation.
On August 7, following an investigation in the matter, the trainee officer, Mishra, was removed from his post and arrested along with two others. At the same time, former DCP Suniti and two other senior officials were relieved of duty for not acting on the matter.
“The suspects were booked under sections 309 (4) [Robbery], 352 [intentional insult] and 61 (2) [criminal conspiracy] of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita,” said DCP Avasthy.