Three of auto gang that robbed people on highways arrested

The three were arrested by Sahibabad police in connection with the incident on March 18 . The police said that the woman reached Mohan Nagar around 10.30 pm after boarding the auto of the accused from sector 62, Noida.

Three members of the dreaded ‘auto-rickshaw’ gang, which had robbed, beaten up and tried to rape a 22-year-old woman on March 18 and several similar cases, were arrested on Wednesday. Police said they have established their involvement in at least five cases. Police officers investigating the case also said that victims in three cases have identified the three arrested men.

Three members of the dreaded ‘auto-rickshaw’ gang, which had robbed, beaten up and tried to rape a 22-year-old woman on March 18 and several similar cases, were arrested on Wednesday. (HT File)

The suspects — Sunny Kumar, Sumit Sharma and Pradeep Kumar — are residents of Loni and are aged 22-26 years, the officers said. The three were arrested by Sahibabad police in connection with the incident on March 18 . The police said that the woman reached Mohan Nagar around 10.30 pm after boarding the auto of the accused from sector 62, Noida.

“At Mohan Nagar, a WagonR was also following the auto in which several other men were present. The woman was taken hostage, beaten up and the men drove it towards Pasonda where they molested and tried to rape her. They also wanted to withdraw cash by using her ATM card but the woman escaped and called up her family,” said Aparna Gautam, assistant superintendent of police (Indirapuram).

The police had filed an FIR in the case, invoking IPC sections pertaining to molestation, rape attempt, criminal intimidation and causing hurt against unidentified men. Based on the description by the woman, several police teams launched a manhunt and inquired about men of the description provided by the victim.

“She told us about the peculiar haircut of one of the men, who also had also brown streaks in his hair. Local tea vendors and kiosk owners told that the man with a similar description drives auto in Mohan Nagar. They identified him as Sumit. A vehicle checking drive was launched and the three men (Sumit, Sunny and Pradeep) were picked up on Wednesday morning. They have confessed their involvement in several cases,” said Gautam.

The men also told police that they had robbed a 45-year-old man Vishwanath in their auto near Vaishali on March 7.

The 45-year-old man from Vaishali’s Sector 1 area was taken hostage by four unidentified men in an auto. He was beaten up and robbed of Rs 5000 cash, his mobile and other belongings. He was thrown out of the auto near the culvert on the road dividing Vaishali sector 5 and 6.

Another woman, a dentist, also identified Sumit as the one who took her hostage in his auto on March 9, police said. The 24-year-old dentist boarded the auto from Kala Patthar in Indirapuram on the night of March 9. She was driven in the auto on the highway and taken from NH-9 to Delhi-Meerut Road Link Road, where she was beaten up. The suspect withdrew Rs 20,000 from her ATM card. The dentist was let off by the men after she told them that she was pregnant.

The police said that the gang members run a dairy in Loni and have been robbing commuters for the past six-seven months. They operate between 9pm and 6am and usually avoid committing crime near Mohan Nagar so that they could not be identified.

Police have seized an auto-rickshaw bearing Ghaziabad registration number and a WagonR car.