Two men arrested for spate of thefts from closed flats in Greater Noida

Police on Tuesday arrested two men allegedly involved in a series of thefts in different flats located in housing societies of Greater Noida

Police on Tuesday arrested two men allegedly involved in a series of thefts in different flats located in housing societies of Greater Noida. The two were arrested from Nat Ki Madhaiya village in Beta 2 police station area.

Two men arrested for spate of thefts from closed flats in Greater Noida

The suspects were identified as Shahnewaz (40), a resident of Sikandrabad in Bulandshahr, and Imran Ali (38), a resident of Ghaziabad. Police have recovered gold and silver jewellery worth ₹20 lakh, ₹1 lakh in cash, two countrymade carbines, one pistol, one countrymade gun, 74 cartridges, 24 damaged locks, some door handles, a drill machine, two LEDs, and six set-up boxes from the suspects.

Amit Kumar, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida, said Shahnewaz is a history-sheeter from Bulandshahr. “Shahnewaz and his accomplices used to wear good clothes to project themselves as locals. They sometimes conducted a recce of certain housing societies and identified a few residents. To gain easy access to the housing societies, they identified themselves as visitors of residents at the society gates and provided fake details to the security guards,”said the DCP.

Police said the suspects used to steal valuables from flats, which stayed locked for some time. In some cases, they also opened fire at the security guards if they resisted their burglary attempt.

Police said they recovered a gun and some cartridges from the suspects at the time of their arrest. The suspects used to sell the stolen valuables to a goldsmith identified as Kailash Verma in Sikandrabad in Bulandshahr. “During interrogation, Shahnewaz revealed he bought a bungalow in Sikandrabad recently using the stolen money,” said the DCP. The suspects got the illegal weapons from a person named Iqbal, a resident of Bulandshahr.

Police said Shahnewaz was wanted in 40 cases while Ali had 11 criminal cases registered against him. The suspects were produced in court and sent to judicial custody. Police have launched a search to arrest other members of the gang.