11 of three gangs held for robbing passengers on pretext of rides

Greater Noida: Eleven members of three separate gangs were arrested by the Site 5 police Friday for allegedly robbing people on the pretext of giving them rides. Police said the suspects were involved in at least 18 such cases.

According to police, the arrested men belonged to separate gangs but were known to each other and are residents of Gejha village in Phase 2 area.

“One of them was arrested based on a tip-off and after scanning his phone contacts and on interrogation, we were then able to zero in on the others,” senior superintendent of police Vaibhav Krishna said.

The members of the first gang were identified as Bhagirath Yadav (gang leader), a former cab driver; Suresh Yadav, a private driver; Chandrakesh Yadav , employed with a private cab aggregator, and Janardan, an electrician.

The members of the second gang were identified as Kuldeep (gang leader) , employed with a private cab aggregator; Sonu Gautam, a tailor, and Badal, a sanitation worker.

The members of the third gang were identified as Shashikant (gang leader), a technician with a government hospital in Delhi; Suraj, working as an assistant for a private doctor and Sonu Jatav, a sanitation worker.

“They have been operating for the past two years, especially in areas such as Sector 37, near Mahamaya flyover, and Pari Chowk, and have carried out at least 100 robberies. They would assault and rob people after offering them rides in their car,” the SSP said.

The suspect would also enter the victim’s ATM card info into their e-wallets and use the victim’s phone to bypass any issues of OTP.

Police recovered 22 phones from them, 18 of which have been traced to separate cases, including one from Indirapuram. In addition, one Ritz and an Alto were seized from them, along with ₹5,000, laptops, watches, fake number plates, two countrymade pistols, six knives and two bags.

Noida police has appealed to public to not take rides from cabs of private aggregators without making appropriate bookings through the apps. “In addition, people should not employ drivers without proper police verification. The verification process will go online from next week making it easier for the public,” said Krishna.

Police said the arrests are one of the largest crackdown on street crimes in Noida and the SSP haas announced a reward of ₹25,000 for the police team.

4 held for stealing valuables

Meanwhile, four men were arrested by the Bisrakh police on Thursday night for allegedly stealing valuables from parked vehicles. Twenty-seven laptops were recovered from the suspects.

The suspects were identified as Manish and Deepak, residents of Okhla; Prakash, a resident of Kalindikunj; and Shakeel, a resident of Mathura. The four were on two motorcycles when they were stopped by Bisrakh police near the Tigri village.

“The team found two bags with them containing two laptops, some bank documents, a catapult and eight to 10 iron pellets (used for breaking glass). Upon questioning, they admitted that they would break the glass of parked vehicles near societies and in crowded markets and make off with valuables,” Krishna said.

The gang has been active for the last two years in Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi and have carried out at least 65-70 such thefts. Police said Prakash owns an electronics store in Nehru Place and they would sell the stolen goods to him.

“Prakash would sell these laptops as second hand gadgets, with proper bills and a guarantee. Some would be used for spare parts,” the SSP said.

Goods worth nearly ₹13-14 lakh were recovered, including 27 laptops, four tablets, 28 laptop displays, 97 body parts, keyboard, laptop chargers, two bags, catapults, two motorcycles and ₹8,000.

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