NEW DELHI: Five members of a Mewat-based gang allegedly involved in armed robberies and kidnappings have been arrested from southeast Delhi’s Tughlakabad area, police said on Friday. The accused have been identified as Hafeez (29), Rahil (28) and Ikram (33) a native of Haryana, and Robin (24) and Mursaleen (27) a native of Rajasthan, a police official said.
According to the police, five pistols, 10 cartridges and a truck with ATM-breaking tools were seized from them. On Wednesday, information was received that five members of the Mewat-based gang were coming from Karnataka in a truck and were heading for Tughlakabad, police said.
A trap was laid and around 5 pm and upon seeing the five accused approaching in a truck, they were asked to surrender. Instead, the accused took out their pistols and threatened to shoot. They were, however, overpowered, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H G S Dhaliwal said.
The accused disclosed that they were members of a Mewat-based gang of led by one Hafeez. They used to commit armed robberies, ATM break-ins and kidnappings in different states, including Delhi, Dhaliwal said. On Monday, the accused had gone to Karnataka’s Vijayapur to rob an ATM. But while committing the crime, they panicked on hearing a police siren and escaped, police said.
They were previously involved in more than 17 criminal cases, including murder, abduction, armed robberies, dacoities, vehicle theft and ATM breaking in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi, police added.
