4 criminals who planned to free Tihar inmates arrested

The city police arrested four persons on Tuesday after an encounter near Sohna. The accused were allegedly planning to free two inmates from Delhi's Tihar jail.

The city police arrested four persons on Tuesday after an encounter near Sohna. The accused were allegedly planning to free two inmates from Delhi's Tihar jail.

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According to the police, five pistols, one revolver, 31 live cartridges, two magazines, and one Scorpio car were recovered from their possession.

They are said to be members of a gang which operates from Tihar jail. Their two accomplices are lodged in the prison for their involvement in over two dozen criminal cases.

Those arrested have been identified as Deepak alias Deepu, Santraj alias Sonu, Sandeep Singh and Rajesh alias Raju. All four hail from Sonipat.

After getting a tip-off, the Palam Vihar crime branch team deployed policemen on the Sohna road and Delhi-Haryana border. Barricades were also placed at a few locations on the Gurgaon-Sohna Road.

When the police tried to stop the assailants' Scorpio car at a checkpost, they fired bullets and tried to escape. But, they were caught by the police team.

The police said that two men - Sandeep alias Kala and Naresh Sethi - used to operate the gang from Tihar jail. The assailants had planned to free two of their gang members from custody on way to court or hospital. During investigation, they confessed to have killed at least three men in the past couple of months.

Deepak is a history-sheeter and was imprisoned for seven years for a robbery. Sandeep was also imprisoned for one-and-a-half years for an attempt to murder. The arms and ammunition were supplied to the gang by one Delhi resident Tinku.