Ghaziabad: Dasna councillor held for masterminding thefts

The police said that he allegedly headed a gang of thieves who recently performed three thefts, on consecutive days, at a factory and two yards of the contractor working on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) project.

The Ghaziabad police on Thursday arrested a 28-year-old councillor who allegedly masterminded thefts in Masuri and Murad Nagar areas of Ghaziabad and targeted factories and storage yards of the infrastructure projects along NH-24, officials said.

Rizwan (third from left, behind seated police) is a councillor in Ward 9 of Dasna Nagar Panchayat. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The police identified the suspect as Rizwan, a councillor from Ward 9 of Dasna Nagar Panchayat, who was elected in the recently held local body polls. The police said that he allegedly headed a gang of thieves who recently performed three thefts, on consecutive days, at a factory and two yards of the contractor working on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) project.

Three FIRs have been filed — one at Murad Nagar police station and two at Masuri police station — under sections 379 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Rizwan, the police said.

Rizwan is not affiliated to any political party and won the election as an independent candidate.

“Councillor Rizwan hired pick-up trucks from a man in Mayur Vihar and offered him Rs1,000 for a couple of hours’ work in the mornings. His involvement in the thefts has been established. The pick-up truck was later used by his men to perform thefts at DME storage yards and also factories in the Dasna-Masuri belt,” AK Maurya, superintendent of police (rural), said.

He said that Rizwan had been involved in such activities since he was elected as a councillor. The police on Thursday arrested Rizwan, Salman, Shahid and Shambhu in connection with the thefts. The accused persons are from Dasna, Masuri and Bulandshahr and knew each other well, the police said.

“As part of their modus operandi, the men would take the pick-up truck provided by Rizwan and make off with drilling machines, welding machines and iron bars from factories and sites of infrastructure projects. They sold the stolen material to scrap dealers to make a quick buck,” Maurya said.

According to the police, Rizwan has been booked for three cases of thefts, while the others have been booked for their role in four incidents each at Masuri and Murad Nagar.

The police said that the gang targeted a factory and construction sites on the night of February 25, 26 and 27 and made off with materials, which comprised mostly of iron.