Noida: 3 nabbed for attack on bizman

Three men have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack on a Delhi-based businessman here after a failed Rs 1.5 crore robbery attempt, police said Friday.

The three, who work in a company linked to the businessman in Sector 57 here, was identified after the police scanned footage of at least 18 CCTV cameras and found a modus operandi "rarely" used in Noida, a senior official said.

Delhi's Gagan Vihar-resident Sunil Khanna was attacked by the assailants on January 7 near NIB road in the industrial area of Sector 62 at around 4.30 pm with the attackers vandalising his car and opening fire at him, Noida 2nd Circle Officer Rajeev Kumar said.

"Khanna, however, escaped unhurt as a crowd gathered at the spot in the busy area and the robbery attempt failed because coincidentally he was not carrying any money that day. The assailants then fled the spot," the official told reporters.

Three accused Roopak Kumar, Deepu Balmiki, and Amrendra alias Chhotu, who were tipping the remaining gang about Khanna's involvements, have been arrested, he said.

The officer said that Roopak and Deepu work as sanitation workers in the Sector 57-based company in which Khanna is also a shareholder.

"During the probe, the accused told the police that they would see Khanna visiting the company often with a lot of cash. Hence they hatched a plan to target him and the process was in the making for at least one-and-a-half-months," the CO said.

He said that they were prepared to rob Khanna off Rs 1.5 crore, but coincidentally Khanna was not carrying the money that day.

All seven people, including the three held and four absconding, are linked to Baghpat district and knew each other.

The four absconding men have also been identified and their involvement in multiple cases of bank robberies in Punjab, Haryana, outskirts of Delhi and the NCR region ascertained, Kumar said.

"We have also recovered the Scorpio car that was used in the crime. The car has a registration number of Haryana and we are in touch with our Haryana and Delhi counterparts to nab the four men," he said.

A case has been registered at the Sector 58 police station and the accused booked under section 307 (attempt to murder), 427 (mischief causing damage), 393 (attempt to commit robbery), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said.

The officer said that the case was under investigation.