Ghaziabad: Two of the six suspects behind a daylight robbery of a cash-loading van in Crossings Republik were shot dead in a late-night encounter with police on Tuesday after the accused opened fire on teams attempting to intercept them on Dasna Road.
Suspects Identified
Zubair Ahmad and Sameer Khan, both residents of Vijay Nagar, were described by police as the masterminds of the May 6 heist. Though neither had a prior criminal record, cops had earlier announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for each. Zubair ran a bamboo shop, and Sameer was in the clothes trade, police said.
Details of the Encounter
Police commissioner J Ravinder Goud said SWAT in-charge inspector Anil Rajput received a tip-off that four suspects in the heist case were moving through the Wave City police station area in a silver Swift and set up a cordon near a drain on Dasna Road.
Around 9.45 pm, the Swift approached from Nayful Road. Signals were given to stop it, but instead of halting, the occupants opened direct fire on the police team and drove along the drain embankment, Goud said. As cops gave chase, the car lost control and descended into a field, where it hit a tree and stopped.
Four suspects, police said, alighted from the car and opened fire again. Sub-inspector Ashish Kumar Singh and head constables Sandeep Malik and Tarun Kumar sustained injuries. As police fired back, Zubair and Sameer were fatally wounded. Two other occupants, Zubair's brother Shoaib and Firoz, fled the spot, Goud said.
Malik, who was shot in the stomach, underwent surgery at Yashoda Hospital on Wednesday. His condition continues to be closely monitored, police said. Inspector Rajput and Wave City SHO Manavendra Singh were also hit, but were saved as they had bulletproof jackets on.
Recoveries and Previous Arrests
The injured men were identified through Aadhaar cards and taken to a hospital, but both died during treatment. Police recovered Rs 9 lakh in cash, four country-made pistols with live cartridges, the Swift and a bag of clothes from their possession.
On Monday, Sameer's brother Mohammad Kaif (23) and another accomplice, Mohammad Rizwan (20), were arrested from Chipiyana underpass in Crossings Republik and Rs 8 lakh, a Scorpio and illegal weapons were recovered from them. Four suspects, including the two who fled Tuesday's encounter, remain at large.
How the Robbery Unfolded
Cops said Zubair, Sameer and Shoaib had moved in on the van eight minutes after the cashier and security personnel of a financial services firm, India-1, had stepped out to replenish an ATM near an HP petrol pump on NH-9 on May 6 afternoon. Driver Tejpal, who was the only one left in the car, had locked the vehicle and remained in the seat. When Zubair whipped out a pistol and asked him to get down, Tejpal apparently tried to resist, prompting Zubair to fire at the driver's window, where the bullet lodged in the glass.
Sameer then fired another shot from the other side. As soon as the driver unlocked the van, he was thrown to the ground, and the three decamped with the cash van, which was carrying nearly Rs 27 lakh in cash at the time. The abandoned van was recovered near Masuri police station on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, roughly 10 kilometres from the crime scene, but the cash had already been removed. A forensic report confirmed that two shots were fired during the cash van robbery.
According to cops, Firoz and Mohammad Kaif tailed the van in a Baleno, later found to have been stolen from Tilak Nagar. The vehicle's owner, Balbir Kaur, had filed a theft FIR at Tilak Nagar police station in April.
Investigation and Gang's Plans
A senior officer said that after the robbery, Zubair was spotted at multiple locations deliberately walking up to CCTV cameras and asking passersby for directions, always for routes he never took, in an apparent bid to mislead investigators. Police also said Zubair and Sameer had been planning to flee to Nepal, and had returned to their homes on Tuesday night to collect documents and clothes before attempting to escape when they were caught.
Kaif and Rizwan told investigators the gang surveilled the cash-loading van for six months and rehearsed the heist at least four times before striking. An FIR was registered at Crossings Republik police station under BNS Section 309(4) on a complaint filed by India-1 employee Rajneesh Tripathi.
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About the Author: Avishek Kumar is a city reporter at the Times of India in Noida and Ghaziabad. He reports on crime, fire, and traffic with a particular focus on civic issues. Over the course of more than five years in journalism, he covered a broad spectrum of city beats, including courts and civics. He is committed to pursuing leads and producing hard-hitting, fact-based, field-exclusive reports.
