Six held for abducting truck driver, escaping with vehicle

Dacoits involved in several crimes arrested from Chambal

Six men were arrested for their alleged involvement in abducting a truck driver and escaping with the truck loaded with goods in Akshardham, police said on Tuesday. The gang of highway dacoits were arrested from Chambal in Madhya Pradesh and they were involved in several crimes, police said.

The accused were identified as Sanjay alias Sonu (25), Monu (23), Vipin (27), Dilip Saw (50), Rajesh (28) and Lokesh (28), they added.

On the intervening night of December 27 and 28 last year, while the truck driver Vipin Kumar was driving with pan masala cartons, two persons dressed as police personnel stopped him as the vehicle reached near Akshardham flyover.

As he got off the truck, they overpowered him and abducted him while other members of the gang took control of the truck. They, later abandoned the driver along with the empty truck near Timarpur, a senior police officer said

Truck tracked

A case was registered at Mayur Vihar police station. When the police tracked the movement of the truck with the help of GPS installed in the vehicle, they found that it had stopped for a considerable time near Siraspur in Outer North District, the officer said.

CCTV footage

Police said they located the spot where the goods were unloaded and with the help of CCTV footage found that the stolen items were transported to several other places using local transporters.

During investigation, the kingpins of the gang were identified to be two brothers Sonu and Mahesh alias Monu. The two were involved in similar crime, the officer said.

Despite conducting searches at their hideouts , the police could not find them. Meanwhile, one of their associates was arrested from Rohini by Crime Branch and two others by Swaroop Nagar police.

Later, police conducted raids at Swaroop Nagar and found the whereabouts of Sonu and Monu and arrested them from Chambal, the officer said. “Pan Masala cartons were recovered from them and a cash of ₹6 lakh received through sale of stolen items was also recovered,” he said.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that they used to waylay trucks posing as police officers and escape with the trucks or items loaded on it. They would sell the stolen items through their contacts.

Over the years, they have purchased property and cars by selling the booty, police said.