Two snatchers held after shootout near Noida’s Spice Mall

The city police have arrested two alleged snatchers after a daylight shootout on Monday near Spice Mall in Sector 25. The police said the shootout took place during an undercover operation to track and arrest snatchers by deploying woman personnel in plainclothes and gold ornaments as decoy.

On Monday, around 11 am, constable Anuradha Kumari was standing as decoy near Spice mall when two persons on a Bajaj Pulsar snatched her gold chain. Anuradha’s backup team immediately swung into action and chased and arrested the suspects.

“One of the snatchers, identified as Rajesh Gautam, fired shots at the police

team. In retaliation, the police also fired shots and he was hit in the leg and fell from the bike. His accomplice, identified as Monu, was also nabbed after a chase,” said Dinesh Yadav, superintendent of police, Noida.

Police claim that through the undercover operations — of luring snatchers suing a decoy woman cop—they have arrested three snatchers in the last 10 days.

“We have recovered two weapons — a .315 bore countrymade pistol and a .32 bore illegal pistol — from the possession of the accused. The gold chain, which they snatched from the undercover personnel, was also recovered,” Yadav said. The police said they are deploying decoys in localities from where cases of snatching are being reported frequently.

Police said Gautam hails from Delhi while Monu is from Ghaziabad.

“During questioning, it was found that five cases, including one of murder, were lodged against Gautam in Delhi while three cases of armed robbery are lodged against Monu in Ghaziabad,” Yadav said.

The police said the accused persons were involved in a number of cases of armed robberies and they are interrogating them to know about their possible involvement in other criminal cases in the satellite city.

“The accused did not hesitate to shoot at the police party. They were armed and dangerous. We will explore possibilities of imposing stringent sections of the Gangster Act on them so they don’t get bail at least for six months,” Yadav said.

“Monu was produced in the court and sent to jail. Gautam is undergoing treatment at the district hospital. He will be produced before the court once he recovers,” Yadav said.