Three sharpshooters of Bhati gang arrested

On a tip off, the three identified as Harpal, Gaurav Kumar Chandola and his namesake Gaurav Kumar were arrested on Saturday night when they came here with a plan to commit a major loot, the STF said in a release.

Three sharpshooters of the Randip Bhati gang, who were wanted in a number of criminal cases in Delhi-NCR, have been arrested by the Special Task Force of the Uttarakhand Police. On a tip off, the three identified as Harpal, Gaurav Kumar Chandola and his namesake Gaurav Kumar were arrested on Saturday night when they came here with a plan to commit a major loot, the STF said in a release. They were caught during checking of a car when it was passing through Transport Nagar, they said, adding the STF had information that the sharpshooters were coming to Dehradun to commit a major loot. Two pistols, one revolver and 12 live cartridges were recovered from their possession, it said, adding the trio has been booked under the Arms Act. They were also wanted in connection with the abduction and attempted murder of a man in Noida in Uttar Pradesh, it said. Harpal is from Gujarmajri in Haryana's Rewari district, Chandola from Faridabad in Haryana and his namesake Gaurav Kumar from Bagpat in Uttar Pradesh, it said. The trio disclosed during interrogation that they were wanted in connection with the abduction and attempted murder of a man called Sanga Pandit in Noida on October 3.

The main sharpshooter Harpal had kidnapped a call centre operator named Aman in Delhi in February this year and demanded a ransom of Rs 25 lakh for his safe return.

A team of Harinagar police station in Delhi had also arrested him in this connection. Chandola was in jail two years ago in a case of attempt to murder. They admitted that they came to Dehradun to commit a major loot as they had ran out of money and were afraid of being caught in Delhi and Noida. They had planned to stay in Dehradun for two-three days and do a recce here before committing the loot.