Three of lift-and-loot gang held after gunfight with Noida cops, abducted person rescued

Three persons allegedly involved in looting commuters on pretext of giving them lift in their car were arrested after a gunfight with the police here while the trio was carrying an abducted hostage with them, officials said on Monday.

The gang has been active in Gurugram and Noida and is suspected of involvement in over a dozen cases in the national capital region (NCR).

The gang was allegedly involved in abducting a software engineer and looting money from him recently, a senior police officer said.

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All three accused suffered bullet injuries in the gunfight which took place late on Sunday night in the Sector 39 police station area, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ashutosh Dwivedi said.

The trio had picked up the hostage from the road near the Advant Business Park where he was waiting for a conveyance to go to Kalindi Kunj.

However, shortly after he entered the Maruti Celerio car, he was blindfolded and his hands tied by the accused, he said.

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“The gunfight took place near a service road over-bridge in Sector 98, under the Sector 39 police station area. All three suffered injuries in the fight. One hostage whose hands were tied and eyes blindfolded. The gang members have confessed committing 13 incidents so far,” Dwivedi said.

“They have a car in which they offered free ride to people or in exchange of money, like private cabs. But they would hold the passengers hostage and forcibly take money using their ATM cards. If the bank accounts of the victim did not have money, they would call up their family members or relatives, demand money in bank account and then withdraw it using the victim's ATM card,” the officer said.

Those held have been identified as Sonu alias Sumit, Yogendra Pratap alias Yogi and Ravi Sharma alias Abhi – all residents of Ghaziabad, according to the police.

Three pistols along with ammunition have been seized from their possession and the car used in the crime has also been impounded, the police said.

The abducted person has been rescued and he is safe now, the police added.