Four teenage highway robbers arrested

The Ghaziabad Police arrested four teenagers, all school dropouts, for their alleged involvement in eight recent highway robberies, reports Peeyush Khandelwal.

The Ghaziabad Police on Tuesday arrested four teenagers, all school dropouts, for their alleged involvement in eight recent highway robberies.

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The gang was active in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida, police said.

They offered lifts to unsuspecting travellers and robbed them to fund their life in the fast lane.

The boys were identified as Nasser Ali (19), resident of Mandavli in Delhi, Gaurav Verma (18), a resident of Brij Vihar in Ghaziabad, Narveer Yadav (18) of Mandavli, and Farid Khan (19), of UP’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district.

Yadav’s father is a head constable in the Delhi Police. Verma is pursuing a course in stock brokering.

The accused took to the crime to fund their expensive lifestyle that included long hours at nightclubs and buying costly electronic gadgets.

“The robbers were fond of leading a lavish lifestyle and turned towards crime to get more money. Their main area of operation was Meerut Road, Vaishali, Anand Vihar and adjoining areas,” Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Ratan told HT.

The next day, the gang snatched a mobile phone, cash and jewellery from Ajay Sharma, a Modinagar resident. “The gang members gave some food spiked with drugs to Sharma,” said a police officer.

They were arrested after one of the gang’s victims tipped off the police.

“The complainants had told us the gang were using a red Maruti Swift car. A victim managed to get the mobile number of one of the robbers. The robbers were warned they will be reported to the police and the victim then asked them to meet him at a place where we were waiting for them” Ratan said.

The police recovered the stolen red Swift, a stolen Hyundai Accent car, a country-made .315 bore pistol, six cartridges, cash and jewellery.