2 gunfights in 12 hrs, 5 of snatchers’ gang held

Ghaziabad: Five members of a gang, allegedly involved in a spate of robberies targeting pedestrians in the city earlier this month, were arrested after two separate gunfights in less than 12 hours, police said on Wednesday.A team from Bhojpur police station arrested three men, and Niwari cops nabbed two others. Four of the suspects sustained bullet wounds and were treated at a hospital in the city, cops said.DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said the gang members were released from bail from Meerut two months ago and started robbing pedestrians using country-made pistols. “On July 29, they carried out a robbery in Meerut. Then they came to Ghaziabad and robbed a couple in Bhojpur on Aug 1. They took two earrings and Rs 10,000 in cash after brandishing a firearm,” the DCP said.On Aug 2, the gang struck once again, this time targeting a Niwari resident. “On the same evening, they tried to rob another woman in Bhojpur. And on Aug 4, they took gold earrings from a woman in Niwari,” Tiwari said.Police formed four teams and scanned CCTV footage from the area to catch the suspects. A team of SWAT and Bhojpur cops were patrolling in the area when they spotted three men on a motorcycle and asked them to stop on Tuesday night.“They started firing at cops and tried to flee. Lucky Pal (22) and Golu Yadav (24) were injured and police them to a hospital. The third accused – Deepak Yadav (26) – was arrested on the spot,” the DCP said. The second gunfight was reported in Niwari on Wednesday.Two men on a motorcycle were again asked to stop by a police team but they took a sharp turn to escape. Cops chased them, and they opened fire. In this, Neeraj Pal (32) and Inder Lal (26), were injured,” Tiwari said, adding that all of them are stable.During interrogation, police said, the suspects told cops that they would specifically target women. All five members of the gang belonged to Meerut. FIRs were registered against the accused under relevant sections of BNS and relevant provisions of the Arms Act. On Wednesday, Golu and Lucky’s wives alleged that the two of them were arrested from their house and were kept in custody for the past three days.“If both had committed a wrongdoing, then police should send them to jail after producing them in court. But they didn’t, and whenever we enquired about it to the officers, misbehave with us,” Golu’s wife said.