Four held for Rs 4 lakh daylight robbery near Azadpur Mandi

The officer said the accused, Ravi Shankar Pandey 27, Harsh Mishra 19, Sandeep Kumar Shukla 21 and Arman Khan 21, were arrested following an inter-state manhunt across Uttar Pradeshs Gonda, Bahraich and Bulandshahr.

The Delhi Police has arrested four people in connection with a Rs 4 lakh daylight robbery near Azadpur Mandi here, recovering a car allegedly purchased with part of the looted money, an official said on Thursday. The officer said the accused, Ravi Shankar Pandey (27), Harsh Mishra (19), Sandeep Kumar Shukla (21) and Arman Khan (21), were arrested following an inter-state manhunt across Uttar Pradesh's Gonda, Bahraich and Bulandshahr. According to police, the robbery took place on April 28 near Azadpur Mandi Gate in northwest Delhi, when the complainant informed police that he was on his way to deposit Rs 4 lakh in a bank when three unidentified men attacked him. ''One accused grabbed his neck and bent him down, another threatened him with a knife, while a third accomplice arrived on a motorcycle. They snatched the cash bag and fled towards Model Town,'' the police said. The officer said after registering a case, a team scanned over 100 CCTV camera footage and found that the accused had conducted prior reconnaissance of the area before committing the robbery. ''A breakthrough came after investigators traced a UPI payment made for refuelling the motorcycle allegedly used in the crime. Using technical surveillance and local intelligence, police first arrested Ravi Shankar Pandey from Gonda. During questioning, police found that he had allegedly used part of the stolen money to buy a new car worth around Rs 1.48 lakh, which was later seized,'' the officer said. Based on his disclosure, police arrested Harsh Mishra and Sandeep Kumar Shukla from Uttar Pradesh. They nabbed Arman, who was allegedly changing hideouts frequently, after laying a trap using human intelligence input. Police recovered cash worth Rs 88,000, four mobile phones, a knife, and the motorcycle used in the crime. Police also froze an additional Rs 25,000 found in one bank account.