2 'criminals' held after shootout, pipe market robbery unveiled

The Ghaziabad police late Friday night arrested two alleged miscreants after an exchange of fire with them that resulted in a constable and two 'outlaws' sustaining gunshot wounds.

The late night encounter took place on Sikandar Pur Road in Sahibabad area after which the constable and the two assailants were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, said Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna Friday.

The SSP said the incident occurred when a police team on Sikandar Pur Road flagged down the three men riding a bike, but they opened fire instead and tried to speed away.

The police team retaliated promptly and opened fire at them, injuring two of them, said the SSP, adding one of the three bike-borne miscreants managed to flee away.

The arrested accused have been identified Nasir and Muzammil, he said, adding the duo and their third accomplice were also found involved in a series of robbery committed earlier on September 4 during which they had snatched a total of Rs 1.5 lakh from local pipe market traders Hitesh, Ravinder and Nupur Jain on gun point.

The SSP said the bike which they were riding, was used in the September robbery and has been impounded.

The police also recovered from the duo two .32 bore pistols along with 10 live cartridges, besides a bag with some of the looted cash, he said.

Earlier on September 4, scores of pipe market traders had held protest and blocked the GT Road alleging the police laxity in the robbery case in which three masked robbers had snatched Rs 1.5 lakh from the traders.

The "miscreants' had also fired in the air while fleeing the spot after committing the crime on September 4.