Gurgaon: Four gangsters held in Sohna, cops claim they were plotting murder

The men allegedly fired at the police before they were overpowered and arrested. They allegedly belong to a gang led by Rakesh alias Pannu, who carries a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest.

Police arrested four men, suspected to be gangsters, from a farmhouse near Ansal crossing, Sohna town, on Thursday evening. Sources said the accused were planning a murder at the instance of a jailed gangster.

Two stolen motorcycles were recovered from the arrested men, police said. (HT Photo)

The men allegedly fired at the police before they were overpowered and arrested. They allegedly belong to a gang led by Rakesh alias Pannu, who carries a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest. The arrested men were identified as Pawan alias Pouna , Gaurav , Sanjay and Vinod. All have several cases against them, the police said.

The police said they were active in Sohna and Gurgaon for the past two years.

Earlier, they were arrested by the Panipat police after they had fired on the police team during a night patrolling when they were asked to stop their vehicle for a routine check at the barricade. They came out on bail recently, the police said.

Police said that the gang is involved in more than 50 incidents of kidnapping, robberies, dacoity and car-jacking in Gurgaon, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Four pistols, a revolver, a countrymade pistol and 40 live cartridges were recovered from their possession along with two stolen motorbikes.

Crime branch team-5 of Sohna arrested the quartet after a brief encounter in which a police officer suffered minor injuries.

Inspector Arun Kumar, in charge, crime investigation agency, Sohna, said the accused are being questioned and more arrests are likely soon. “They were waiting for their accomplices and planning something big. Pannu was arrested earlier as well when I was with the crime investigation agency in Palam Vihar,” Kumar said.

The police also claimed that one of their officers was also injured, when they were trying to nab the gang.

According to the police, they got a tip-off about some suspicious activity in a farmhouse near Ansal crossing on Thursday. A crime team rushed to the spot around 5pm and apprehended the men.

“When the police team raided the spot, these men tried to flee but were nabbed. They are professional criminals and used to steal vehicles from the same area before executing a crime,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the Sohna crime branch also arrested two thieves from Indri Morh, Sohna. The two accused are involved in a number of thefts and have been identified as Nafees (29), a resident of Nuh, and Nissar, also a resident of Nuh.

One Maruti 800 and seven motorcycles were recovered from them.