Greater Noida: Seven people were arrested by the Surajpur police after an encounter on Wednesday night in connection with a robbery in March. Three of the suspects were injured in the encounter.
The suspects were identified as Sattar, Saddam, Pankaj Sharma, who were injured, and Gyani, Salmaan, Bobby and Sudheer Kumar. All seven hail from Gautam Budh Nagar and Aligarh districts.
According to the police, the men were involved in a robbery on the intervening night of March 15 and 16 in Surajpur.
“A canter driver transporting around 50 air coolers was intercepted by the suspects, who were in an Innova, after which they robbed him of his vehicle at gunpoint. A search for them had been on since then,” said Harish Chandra, deputy commissioner of police, zone 2.
Police officials said that on Wednesday, around 11.15pm, they received a tip-off that the some suspects ferrying looted goods were travelling in a truck near the Yamaha exit.
“Barricades were set up, and the suspects asked to stop. They fled and fired at the police team near the Sector 143 Metro station. Three of the suspects were injured in the encounter, while the other four managed to flee in their SUV. They were later nabbed from near Pari Chowk, while the injured were taken to hospital,” Chandra said.
{{/usCountry}}“Barricades were set up, and the suspects asked to stop. They fled and fired at the police team near the Sector 143 Metro station. Three of the suspects were injured in the encounter, while the other four managed to flee in their SUV. They were later nabbed from near Pari Chowk, while the injured were taken to hospital,” Chandra said.
{{/usCountry}}Police officers said the suspects confessed to the robbery during interrogation, and that officers also recovered three countrymade pistols from the suspects, along with the Innova, the truck, 36 cooler sets, 72 cooler trolleys and 40 motors and sets of blades.
“The suspects had robbed around 50 coolers, of which some have been sold. We are working on tracing them and also identifying other cases in which they were involved,” said Chandra.
They were booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the arms act.
The suspects were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.