Man who instigated associate to shoot at constable arrested

A 25-year-old man, who was apprehended by a constable near Galleria market in Sector-28 on the night of April 16 for allegedly snatching a gold chain and had instigated his associate to shoot the policeman in the head so that he could free himself from his clutches, was arrested after a shootout near Kharkhari village at IMT Manesar in Gurugram on Friday morning, said police.

Police said the arrested man, Mohammad Junaid, was travelling in a stolen motorcycle when a crime branch team patrolling in IMT Manesar signalled him to stop near a barricade for questioning. Junaid allegedly opened fire on the police team with a country-made pistol. The police team opened fire in retaliation, in which Junaid was shot in the left leg and taken to hospital.

According to police, on the night of April 16, constable Gauri Shankar (30) and assistant sub-inspector Krishan Kumar were patrolling near Galleria market in Sector 28 when the former spotted two people coming on a motorcycle. Shankar identified them to be the same people, whose CCTV footage grab was circulated among all the policemen, as they had allegedly snatched a gold chain and stolen a motorcycle on April 14.

Police said that Shankar was the one to get out of the patrolling vehicle and apprehend Junaid, who instigated his associate Mohammad Ismail alias Kala (27) to open fire, in which the constable sustained a bullet injury on his right leg. When Shankar didn’t set him free even after getting shot, Junaid instigated Ismail to shoot him in the head, forcing the constable to let him go.

Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Preet Pal Sangwan said a country-made pistol, an empty and a live cartridge were recovered from Junaid, besides a stolen motorcycle.

Sangwan said police got to know about Junaid’s movement after crime branch teams of Sector-17 and Sector-31, headed by inspectors Narendra Kumar and Anand Kumar, arrested Ismail from Nuh on Thursday night.

“Ismail gave details about Junaid’s movement, after which he was intercepted and caught by the two crime branch teams,” he said.

The ACP said the duo confessed to their involvement in more than 24 snatching cases in Gurugram, along with theft, robbery, and attempt to murder. He said a reward of ₹25,000 was declared for each of the suspects after they shot at the constable.

“Ismail was arrested after an exchange of fire. He was sent to jail in 2018 and had come out on bail last year. Junaid was sent to jail in 2019 and had come out in 2020. They became friends when they were in jail and later, started committing crimes together,” said Sangwan.