Police warn against ‘outside’ criminals operating in city

KANPUR: Following arrest of over a dozen criminals, the police have warned local people against notorious gangs of Delhi, Haryana and West UP operating in the city.

On August 2, the police stumbled upon two members of inter-state gang of robbers hailing from Seelampuri area of New Delhi and claimed that they were involved in the daring dacoity reported from Chakeri’s Krishna Nagar area in May.

Similarly, next day on August 3, the police rounded up six persons for robberies in and around the Industrial City in the past few months.

The accused were identified as Rajatbhan of Baghpat, Vikas Kumar of Ghaziabad, Tarun of Shahdara in Delhi, Muneer Khan and Shahnawaz of Gandhi Nagar in Delhi and Anis Ahmed of Seelampuri in Delhi.

The gang members confessed that they had robbed a city resident Jagat Narain Gupta of Rs 40,000 on July 10. “They were active on desolate stretches and roads in city areas, besides highways,” said a police officer.

Likewise, on June 14, seven members of interstate ‘Sansi’ (a tribe of Haryana) gang involved in several robberies, was busted by Government Railway Police (GRP).

The accused, identified as Madan Sansi, Ajit Sansi, Sushil Kumar Sansi, Om Prakash Sansi, Baljeet Sansi, Ramesh Sansi and Jagdish Sansi, were all members of Sansi tribe and hailed from Bhawani Kheda in Bhawani district of Haryana.

Investigators said that they used to target lonely persons commuting through the city during late night hours and evening.

“We suspect them to be involved in more such incidents in the past few months. They would rob the victims of cash and valuables,” said an investigating officer.

SSP Shalabh Mathur said, “We are planning to increase night patrolling. Vigil at vulnerable points across the city will also be tightened.”

Alerting people to be aware of the common modus operandi of robbers, SSP said they mostly strike when people are headed home after late night at work or in some cases, during noon after withdrawing money from banks.

“These robbers follow the person and when he/she reaches an isolated spot, they try to stop the vehicle by picking up a fight. Most of the time they target a motorist claiming that the victim has hit their vehicle. After the victim stops the vehicle to clarify the issue, they start assaulting him and within minutes flee the scene with their valuables,” he added.

“We will also pass on information to the neighbouring districts on the recent arrest of the inter-state members of the gangs and alert them. Instructions have been given to all SPs, ASPs, COs and SHOs to take steps to prevent the entry of criminals into the city,” said the SSP.

SSP also alarmed the residents and said, “They could be in guise of petty vendors, balloon-sellers and ‘madari’ and undertake recce by visiting localities during day time.”