UP Police constable, associate arrested for abducting man, robbing him

A Uttar Pradesh Police constable was arrested along with his associate for allegedly abducting a man and robbing him off his valuables at gunpoint here, the Delhi Police said on Thursday.

Shreekant (30), the constable, is the alleged mastermind while his associate, Raghu Khosla, was previously involved in more than 100 cases, they said.

Khosla usually targeted passengers in Rajdhani and Shatabadi expresses stealing items having value more than Rs 1 lakh in each journey, police said.

According to police, the alleged abduction-and-robbing incident happened on August 17, with a resident of Sonipat when he was waiting for someone in his car at Mukarba Chowk, Karnal by-pass.

Around 5:30 am, a man asked him to open the window of his car and threatened him with a firearm. Soon, two others came and abducted him in his car, the police said.

They robbed the man off his mobile phone, money, and ran away with his car, they said.

Police said that upon technical surveillance and analysis of call detail record of the accused, they found that Shreekant was actively involved in this crime.

He was arrested and the robbed mobile phone was recovered from his possession, a senior police officer said.

Khosla, a resident of Ghaziabad, was also arrested by the police from his hideout in the area of Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, he said.

On the day of the incident, as per a conspiracy, Khosla, Sameer, Sooraj and Aman came in a swift car and robbed the complainant’s vehicle and drove it to Ghaziabad.

Their alleged gang leader Shreekant was continuously in contact with them, he Delhi Police said.

The accused persons were unaware about a GPS tracker installed in the robbed car and on instructions of Shreekant, the vehicle was parked in a vacant land, said Gaurav Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North).

He said a police team reached the location using the GPS system.

Sensing police presence, Shreekant wore his police uniform and took all the four co-accused with him from Ghaziabad to East Delhi in a car to provide them a safe hideout, taking inspiration from a Bollywood movie, Sharma said.

Accused Shreekant’s photo was captured in a CCTV installed at the place where the robbed car was parked, he said.

During investigation, it was revealed by Shreekant that they had robbed the vehicle to kill one Pawan, who is Sameer’s rival, he added.

Shreekant was recruited in the UP police in 2011.

One of his associates, Aman, who has a criminal background, belongs to his village. Through Aman, Shreekant came in contact with other accused persons -- Sameer, Sooraj and Raghu -- and all five allegedly formed a gang, police said.

While four of them used to commit the crime, Shreekant supported them technically, legally and provided them vehicles, police said.

The police have recovered the stolen car and the robbed mobile phone and efforts are underway to nab other accused.