Seven held for robbing zinc consignment

NEW DELHI, July 31: The northwest district police claim to have busted seven members of a gang who used to rob trucks carrying metal wort...

NEW DELHI, July 31: The northwest district police claim to have busted seven members of a gang who used to rob trucks carrying metal worth lakhs of rupees. One of accused is the district organising secretary of a political party.

According to the police, Buthmen Impex Pvt. Ltd, Ashok Vihar, had imported zinc worth approximately Rs 22 lakh from Russia. The consignment was stored at a godown in Patparganj and on June 26, a truck trailer was hired to transport it to Shahbad Daulatpur. The driver of the truck, Sita Ram, 30, his brother Dalip and cleaner Ranjit had allegedly entered into a conspiracy with the gang comprising Satish Dhar Dube, Rakesh Babu Gupta among others.

They had decided that during transportation, the consignment would be diverted. Dube, 35, had struck a deal with an Okhla scrap dealer, Rakesh Babu Gupta, and Mohammad Iftikhar and Mohammad Miraz, both of whom buy and sell old vehicles.

The group was also reportedly using one Mohammad Islam, who the police say is a regular buyer of stolen goods and belongs to a political party of which he is a district organising secretary. When the truck-trailer reached the ISBT flyover, Ahmed, Satish, Rakesh and Iftikhar met the driver and took the consignment to Mundka as planned.

The consignment was unloaded there and the gang contacted Surat Sethi of Sadar Bazar their main buyer. It was decided that the consignment would be shifted to a godown owned by Sethi the following night.

The truck was later abandoned in Mongolpuri. During the course of the investigation, police parties were sent to Bihar and West Bengal in search of the driver and their associates. The seven accused, Sita Ram, Dalip, Satish Dube, Rakesh Babu Gupta, Ahmed Iftikhar, Mohammad Miraz and Mohammad Islam were arrested and at their disclosure, goods worth Rs 12 lakh recovered.

Sethi, arrested by the Faridabad police, is currently in Delhi and being interrogated regarding the remaining consignments.