Gang responsible for 39 robberies in Noida nabbed, 5 stolen cars recovered

According to the police, two of the suspects and a police officer were injured in the encounter. While the officer is stable, the suspects are said to be critical.

The Noida police nabbed three men allegedly associated with at least 39 cases of robberies in the district executed using stolen cars after a brief encounter around 12am on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The police also arrested two jewellers who would allegedly purchase the stolen items from the suspects and sell them.

Three of the accused in the custody of Noida police, in Noida, on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo)

At least five cars, weapons, jewellery items and mobile phones, among some other items, were recovered.

According to the police, two of the suspects and a police officer were injured in the encounter. While the officer is stable, the suspects are said to be critical. The police said that the modus operandi of the three suspects, who have been on wanted lists since 2015, was to allegedly stop passersby and ask for directions, and then rob them at gunpoint.

The prime suspects were identified as Omveer Bhati (35) and Sonu Yadav (27). They were injured in the encounter along with a sub-inspector, Patneesh Kumar, posted at Kasna police station. The third suspect, Monu Yadav (22), Sonu’s brother, was also nabbed. The police said he would allegedly accompany the prime suspects sometimes.

The two jewellers who were arrested were identified by their first names as Monu and Vikas.

“They had been on our radar for a very long time. Routine checks were being done to nab them. The three suspects were intercepted in a blue Maruti Baleno car near Shahadra village on the Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad road by five teams— four from the crime branch and one from the Surajpur police station. They shot at the police team while trying to flee and in the ensuing retaliatory firing, two of them were injured. Twelve rounds were fired by them. A sub-inspector was injured in the retaliatory firing,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

According to the police, Omveer, a resident of Sector 39 and a Class 10 drop-out, had been living in a rented accommodation in a high-rise in Greater Noida, while Sonu and his brother Monu Yadav, who were from Agra, were living in a high-rise in Sector 75. However, they would allegedly often change their location to avoid being traced.

The police said that Omveer, the alleged mastermind, is also a history-sheeter, with various cases against him registered at the Sector 49 police station for thefts and robberies.

The prime suspects served time in 2016 in a case registered at the Sector 20 police station for loot and robbery, as well as under the Arms Act registered at the Phase 2 station, the police added.

“The suspects revealed during questioning that they mostly carried out daytime robberies so as to have an easier getaway. Also, it was easier to spot real jewellery during the day. They also said that they targeted only men because men wore heavier jewellery which was almost always genuine. None of the incidents were pre-planned. They also said that they would not stray very far from their hideouts and committed the crimes in a small radius only,” the SSP said.

Among the cars recovered were a Verna and an i20 registered in Omveer’s name, apart from the Santro, i10 and blue Baleno, which the suspects had allegedly stolen and used for robberies. Apart from these, four countrymade pistols, a .315 bore pistol, multiple cartridges, gold chains, rings, bangles, fake number plates, bolt cutters, five mobile phones and red chilli powder (which the police said could have been used in incidents) were recovered.

“They revealed that they purchased two of the pistols for ₹26,000 each from a person in Etah and two from elsewhere. We are working on tracing them as well as others who might have been involved with the suspects in any capacity,” Krishna said.

The police said that the suspects would park the stolen vehicles in the parking lots of high-rises to avoid detection. While they had used the Santro car in at least 20 cases since 2015, they used the i10 car in 12 cases and the blue Baleno in seven cases. However, more cases are being traced in which the suspects might have involved, officers added.

“As many as 200 robberies might have been carried out by them,” a police officer, who did not want to be identified, said.

The police added that jewellers in the city would buy stolen goods from the suspects and pay them 70% of the cost of jewellery after appraising the items. Officers said the recovered items would be released after the court’s permission post investigation and given back to the victims.

The police said that a cash van robbery attempt at Surajpur in April, 2019, had involved some recce by the suspects and had ended with the suspects firing at the security guard of the bank while their biggest successful robbery had taken place on February 15, wherein they had robbed a dairy owner of ₹4 lakh he had just withdrawn from a bank near Sector 33.

The SSP said the police department will apply for the custody of the suspects so as to work out more cases and gather more details.

The police said that during the robberies, the victims handed over their valuables easily for fear of being shot at.

“I was right outside my society in my car and was waiting behind a couple of school buses, which were dropping off children, to enter the main gate when the suspects came to my side and asked me to roll down the window on the pretext of asking for directions, but then pulled a pistol on me. They took away all my valuables. I was too scared to resist,” Amit Kumar Singh, a resident of Grihapravesh Apartments in Sector 77, said.

The owner of the blue Baleno car said that he was robbed of his vehicle on January 11 near Sector 35 while he was on his way to meet some relatives. “They had stopped to ask for some directions but then demanded I hand over my car. I complied when they pointed a pistol at me,” Anuraj Kukreti, a resident of Sector 46, said.

The police said that though shooting their victims was not the plan, the suspects were not afraid to take violent measures if the need arose.

Post the arrest, the UP director general of police (DGP) announced a reward of ₹50,000 for the police teams and a DGP disk (award) for circle officer 2 (city) Piyush Kumar Singh, circle officer 1 Greater Noida Shwetabh Pandey and sub-inspector Kasna Patneesh Kumar.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.