Three held for multiple thefts in Noida; vintage pistol, foreign currency among stolen goods recovered

Three people, including a jeweller, were arrested Wednesday following a brief encounter with the Sector 39 police for alleged involvement in multiple burglaries

Three people, including a jeweller, were arrested Wednesday following a brief encounter with the Sector 39 police for alleged involvement in multiple burglaries across the city. Police suspect that the gang has been involved in more than two dozen incidents in the past several months, of which at least six have been solved. Stolen goods were also from the possession of the suspects.

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The suspects were identified as Mohit, Ankit and Manish (the jeweller), all natives of Gautam Budh Nagar, said police. According to police, Manish owned a shop in Chhalera village and the gang was active since 2012.

“In October 2019, the house of a retired army colonel in Sector 29 was burgled. A case was registered at sector 20 police station. On Wednesday, the three were nabbed during routine checking near Sector 37 and the stolen goods were recovered from them,” said deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma.

During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they roam around in residential areas and, after thorough reconnaissance, broke into houses that appeared empty.

“They would steal jewellery and valuables and sell most of them to Manish. In addition, they also robbed passersby of their valuables in desolate areas. The profits were divided equally among them,” Sharma said, adding that the suspects would sometimes also keep some jewellery with gold financing companies.

“Suspects said that while jewellers sometimes cut into their profits, the gold financing companies paid good interest. We have recovered some goods from one such company in Sector 15 and their role is also being investigated,” the DCP said.

“We have recovered the colt pistol (rumoured to be 100 years old and very valuable) they had taken from the colonel’s house along with 2,200 US dollars. For fear of being traced, they had not spent the money. In addition, we found several live cartridges, Aadhaar card, keys, voter ID card, earrings, gold chain, rings, silver utensils, silver anklets, Rs 9000, masks and two motorcycles which were used in the burglaries,” said Sharma.

Police have identified 19 cases of robberies, Arms Act, Gangster Act and attempt to murder, among others, against Mohit since 2013, 15 cases against Ankit since 2012 and four against Manish dating back up to 2012.

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