3 men who robbed money exchanger with ‘pistol lighter’ held while holidaying in Goa

On July 15, the suspects allegedly held the money exchange shop operator Amandeep Singh at “gunpoint”, after pointing a pistol shaped cigarette lighter at him. They tied him up and fled with different currencies valued at around ₹6 lakh in Indian rupees.

Three men, who allegedly robbed a money exchange shop in Indirapuram on July 15, after holding its proprietor at “gunpoint” using a pistol shaped cigarette lighter, were arrested from Goa two days ago, while they were holidaying there, Ghaziabad police informed on Friday.

Police identified the four suspects as Vipul Chaudhary, 36, Sumit Sirohi, 36, and Raul Sharma (age unknown), all residents of Modinagar, and Mukul Siddhu, 23, a resident of Sector 63 in Gurugram. (Representative Image)

Police said they have been brought to Ghaziabad on transit remand on Friday, while their fourth accomplice was arrested from Modinagar.

Police identified the four suspects as Vipul Chaudhary, 36, Sumit Sirohi, 36, and Raul Sharma (age unknown), all residents of Modinagar, and Mukul Siddhu, 23, a resident of Sector 63 in Gurugram.

The police said Chaudhary is an MBA graduate and also a postgraduate in physical education. Sirohi has a graduate degree and Siddhu is a postgraduate in data science. The fourth suspect Sharma is a driver in the cab business run by Chaudhary and Sirohi, police said.

On July 15, they allegedly held the money exchange shop operator Amandeep Singh at “gunpoint”, after pointing a pistol shaped cigarette lighter at him. They tied him up and fled with different currencies valued at around ₹6 lakh in Indian rupees.

A case of robbery was registered against unidentified suspects at Indirapuram police station, police said.

The police said the pistol shaped cigarette lighter was purchased by the suspects to specifically carry out the robbery. The police said the gang did this because they could not procure any weapon. Still, they managed to putting the fear of life in Singh and carry out the robbery at his shop in Indirapuram’s Vaibhav Khand, police said.

“Both Chaudhary and Sirohi ran a cab business in Modinagar and used to visit the victim’s shop for money exchange with their foreign clients. About a month ago, they went to the shop and a dispute ensued over the exchange amount. Singh gave them ₹22,000 in exchange of foreign currency, but they felt that they were paid less. They decided to teach him a lesson. They procured the pistol shaped lighter and robbed the shop.They then fled to Goa to enjoy a holiday with the loot,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (trans-Hindon).

The police said the three suspects entered Singh’s shop while cab driver Sharma waited outside at a distance in the car. The men were masked when they entered the shop, but took them off once outside. This led to their faces being captured by CCTV cameras.

The police said they fled with about ₹2.22 lakh Indian rupees, 1780 US dollars and 2,260 Thai baht.

The Ghaziabad police formed four teams to crack the case and traced the car’s registration number from one of the CCTV camera footage in the area. Electronic surveillance put the suspects at the scene of crime and they were later traced to Goa.

“Our teams reached Goa and they were found holidaying there at a resort using the looted money. They were arrested two days ago on July 19 and produced before a local court. They were brought on transit remand to Ghaziabad on Friday. The driver was arrested from Modinagar,” the DCP said.

The police also recovered a Swift Dzire car, ₹1.15 lakh in Indian currency, 280 US dollars, the pistol shaped cigarette lighter and a bag from their possession.