This story is from October 24, 2019

Snatcher gang in the net after shootout in Delhi's Connaught Place

Gunshots rang out at Connaught Place just as the sun was rising on Wednesday. When police had intercepted four snatchers who victimised early morning walkers near Shankar Market, the quartet had opened fire. But the cops fired back and hit two of the fleeing men. Three of the men were held. The snatchers turned out be the ones who had recently targeted a senior IAF officer and a businessman from Rajasthan.
Snatcher gang in the net after shootout in Delhi's Connaught Place
One of the accused, Salim
NEW DELHI: Gunshots rang out at Connaught Place just as the sun was rising on Wednesday. When police had intercepted four snatchers who victimised early morning walkers near Shankar Market, the quartet had opened fire. But the cops fired back and hit two of the fleeing men. Three of the men were held. The snatchers turned out be the ones who had recently targeted a senior IAF officer and a businessman from Rajasthan.
According to Eish Singhal, DCP (New Delhi), a police team had identified the men from CCTV footage of them hauling away the expensive bicycle of the businessman.
Their movement was under scrutiny. On receiving information about their presence in Connaught Place around 5am on Wednesday, the cops saw them on a black motorcycle and signalled them to stop.
1
The getaway vehicle
The snatchers, however, took a sudden U-turn. As they sped away, the pillion rider started firing at the police team. One of the shots hit a policeman, who escaped injuries because he was wearing a bulletproof jacket. The cops set off in pursuit and fired back, hitting Mohammad Salim on his thigh. He fell down, but continued to keep the policemen at bay with his pistol. To save Salim from the cops, his associate Mohammad Ismail also started shooting at the police personnel. In retaliatory firing, the cops hit the second snatcher on his leg. Seeing the two nabbed, the third man, Saud, tried to escape, but was quickly overpowered. Police said that the fourth man evaded arrest.
In all, nine rounds were fired: three by the criminals and six by the cops. “The men admitted to their involvement in the series of snatchings around Connaught Place in the past few days,” said Singhal. “All of them come from different states and have made Delhi home to rob and snatch in the city’s posher areas. They also disclosed that they had stolen high speed bikes in different areas of Delhi.”
Police recovered Rs 95,000, 10 mobile phones, the Rajasthan businessman’s cycle and some of the bags they had snatched from the trio. Besides trawling Connaught Place and adjacent areas, the men also stalked unwary passengers at New Delhi Railway Station. Recently, they had carried out a robbery near Govindpuri.
Cops said Salim was a resident of Shastri Park in north-east Delhi, while Ismail lived in Mata Sundri Road in central Delhi. Saud travelled every few weeks from Badaun in UP to Delhi to join them. Police hope to identify the fourth man after interrogating the nabbed trio.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA