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Five men from Meerut held for cattle lifting in Delhi
New Delhi: Five alleged criminals from Meerut, mostly involved in cattle lifting, were arrested after a 3-km dramatic chase, followed by an exchange of fire at Dwarka-Kakrola road in southwest Delhi early Monday morning, police said
New Delhi: Five alleged criminals from Meerut, mostly involved in cattle lifting, were arrested after a 3-km dramatic chase, followed by an exchange of fire at Dwarka-Kakrola road in southwest Delhi early Monday morning, police said.
Four bullets were fired during the shoot-out, causing injuries to two suspects while the two bullets fired by the alleged criminals hit two policemen in their bulletproof vests. The police operation lasted for nearly 15 minutes, said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena.
“The arrested cattle lifters were involved in stealing more than 1,000 cattle, mostly buffaloes, from Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan in the last four to five years, and selling them to unauthorised butchers in Uttar Pradesh. The five men had come to Goyala Dairy area near Dwarka in a pick-up van to steal cattle when our team members chased and caught them following an encounter. They also tried to snatch the service weapons of our policemen,” said DCP Meena. The suspects were not carrying cattle at the time of encounter with the police.
The arrested men were identified by their first names Ajaj, Irshad, Ismail, Sajat and Nabiya, all residents of Meerut. A total of 11 cases were solved with their arrest, the police claimed.
DCP Meena said that the district’s special staff team was tasked with identifying and arrest cattle lifters following a incident in Chhawla, in which the suspects stole four buffaloes after tying their caretaker with a rope on January 12 this year. During the probe, it was learnt that there several similar incidents. The team started collecting information about the cattle lifters and learnt about a Meerut-based gang.
On July 26, the team received information that five cattle lifters from Meerut, carrying illegal weapons, were coming towards Goyala Dairy in a pick-up van. The team laid a trap near Samta Enclave and barricaded the road. Around 4.30 am, the team spotted the van and signalled its driver to stop. However, the truck hit the iron barricades and sped away
“Our team members chased the van, while others tried to block it with their vehicles. The suspects started pelting stones at the police team. As our team members continued chasing them, the van driver lost control and rammed a street light pole,” said Meena.
Police said two suspects fired one bullet each at the police party. Two head constables received the bullets on their bulletproof vests. The police team fired back and hit the two suspects in their legs. The two injured men were overpowered along with three other suspects, who also tried to snatch the service weapons of the policemen.
“We checked the van but it did not have any cattle inside. Two pistols and two knives were seized along with an iron rod, a bundle of rope and a stick from the van,” said DCP Meena.
