Inter-state gang of highway robbers busted, 7 held

Acting on a tip-off, a police team arrested the robbers from Athwal village here when they were hatching a loot plan, SSP Tulsi Ram said, adding that the gang was active on state highways and their main target used to be tourists.

On seeing the police team, the gang members opened fire but the police cordoned off the area and arrested seven of them.

Two of the gang members, however, managed to escape, Ram added.

Describing the modus-operandi of the gang, Ram said the robbers, dressed up as policemen, would intercept vehicles on the pretext of checking and then loot them.

The gang was involved in around 14 robberies at various places in the state and recently, they had looted a group of devotees from Delhi when they were on their way to Vaishnodevi shrine.

A cache of arms including two 12 bore pistols, one 315 bore pistol, a country-made pistol, seven cartridges, two empty cartridges, besides a camera, gold ornaments and the vehicle used by them were recovered from the arrested robbers, he added.