Four suspected members of 'Lifafa Gang' arrested

Four men, suspected to be members of 'Lifafa Gang', were arrested for allegedly killing a man after robbing him here, police said today.

On December 15, the body of a man was found near the NH- 8. The victim, later identified as Sunil Bhatt, a resident of Gurgaon, was allegedly strangulated by a muffler, they said.

During investigation, it was found that Bhatt's two mobile phones, a bag and a purse were missing, the police said.

The details of the ATM cards were taken and the statement of transactions made from it were obtained. It was revealed that the cards were swiped at some ATMs and also used at a shopping centre, they added.
 

CCTV footages from the ATMs and shopping centre were scanned and one of the suspects was identified, the police said.

It was found that one Arif (32), who was previously involved in several cases of robbery and was operating a 'Lifafa Gang' was involved in Bhatt's killing, they said.

Arif and his accomplices, identified as Ajay Kumar (24), Nirmal Sharma (25) and Partap Singh (42) were nabbed on Friday, the police said.

On December 14, Sharma and Singh spotted Bhatt, who was going to board a bus to Haridwar, at the Gurgaon bus stand. The accused told him that they were also going to the same place and offered him a lift, the police said.

They asked the victim to put his belongings in an envelope and hand it over to them, but he refused, they added.

The accused allegedly started beating him and robbed him of Rs 2,800, his bag, mobile phone and ATM card, the police said.

Later, Singh and Sharma allegedly killed Bhatt by strangulating him, the police said, adding that they dumped his body later.

Subsequently, they withdrew money from different ATMs on the intervening night and bought some articles worth Rs 7,000 from a shopping centre in Rohini the next day by swiping Bhatt's card, they said.

On December 16, they withdrew Rs 15,000 from the Majnu Ka Tila area. On December 17, they robbed another victim of Rs 14,000, the police said.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that after the victim would board their car, they would tell them that it was a government vehicle and not for commercial purpose, they said.

They would ask the victim to hand over their belongings to them so that they can keep it safely in an envelope. They would exchange the envelopes and asked the victim to deboard at a secluded place after making excuses, the police said.