Sub-Inspector Among Six Arrested In UP For Looting Jewellers On Pretext Of Checking Drive

Four policemen, a Sub-Inspector and three constables were arrested by Gorakhpur Police on Thursday, January 19, for looting a jeweller on the pretext of checking drive.

The two informants, who helped the four accused track the jeweller have also been arrested, NDTV reported.

The incident took place near Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, where the four policemen were posted. Deepak Verma, brother of jeweller Tarkeshwar Verma, and Raju Verma, who is an employee of jeweller Gautam Verma, had come to Gorakhpur on Wednesday to purchase the jewellery. They took another bus for Lucknow where they had to purchase some jewellery.

In their uniform, the four stopped the bus on the highway, near Naushad area in Gorakhpur, on the pretext of a checking drive. They entered the bus and asked the brothers and the assistant to get down for checking. The four took them to an isolated area, where they were allegedly beaten up and robbed.

With the help of CCTV footage near the Naushad bus station and other clues, the police identified the accused Dharmendra Yadav, Mahendra Yadav, Santosh Yadav and Devendra Yadav. The two informants have been identified as Shailesh Yadav and Durgesh Yadav.

The team also recovered gold and silver worth ₹16 lakh, ₹19 lakh in cash and the car used in the crime.

Further investigation into the matter revealed that the four were also involved in a similar crime in the city last month, where they posed as customs officers and robbed a jeweller.

They have been charged under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), section 395 (punishment for dacoity), 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity), 420(cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code.

All four have been sacked from the department. According to the Times of India report, nine others in the department have also been suspended for negligence in the duty.