Employees of a finance company who allegedly hijacked a private bus with 34 passengers onboard in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra opened fire at the police when they were stopped at a check point at Fatehabad in Haryana.
The police also opened fire in retaliation and shot one of the culprits in the leg while another managed to escape. The main accused behind the hijacking of the bus from Gurugram to Madhya Pradesh, was arrested by the Agra police on August 20.
The accused was identified as Pradeep Gupta, who suffered a bullet injury in his leg during the encounter.
‘The main accused of the bus ‘hijacking’ case Pradeep Gupta has been arrested after an encounter with the police. He was on his motorcycle and was traced in Fatehabad area of Agra district in the early hours of Thursday,’ Babloo Kumar, SSP Agra said.
The CCTV footage helped identify Gupta at the toll plaza on August 19. ‘We are yet to recover the SUV he was travelling in,’ SSP Kumar said.
Pradeep Gupta, his five associates were booked for dacoity and kidnapping at Malpura police station of Agra after the hijacking incident on Wednesday.
The private bus carrying 34 passengers left from Gurugram for Jhansi at 3 am on August 19. Some unidentified men in SUVs overtook the bus and stopped it after it crossed Raigad toll near New Southern Bypass in Agra. The men allegedly seized control of the vehicle and hijacked it.
The bus was later traced near a dhaba in Etawah district.
The reason behind the hijacking of the bus which was owned by Pawan Arora from Gwalior was a monetary dispute, according to the police.
‘Pradeep Gupta was involved in a monetary dispute with Ashok Arora, the father of Pawan Arora. Ashok Arora had succumbed to Coronavirus and hijacking was planned by accused Pradeep Gupta to realise the outstanding money he owed Arora,’ the police said.
