Milkman among three arrested in Noida for a dozen burglaries

Three persons, including a milkman and a suspected criminal, were arrested by the Noida police on Thursday morning for their alleged involvement in a series of burglaries in areas under the Sector 24 police jurisdiction.

The suspects were identified as Akash (identified by a single name in police records), 25, who is from Greater Noida, Sonu (single name), 30, who is from Delhi and lives in Khoda colony, and Mukesh Kumar (38), who is from Aligarh and also lives in Khoda.

According to police officers, Akash worked as a milkman and conducted recces of houses in various residential areas to identify potential targets. “While working, Akash would keep an eye on houses that had been vacant for a while. Being a regular in the residential areas, no one questioned his movement which gave him a good cover. The three would then break into these houses and decamp with valuables in an Alto car which was registered on Akash’s name,” said deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Rajesh S.

The police said that the three suspects were involved in multiple theft, robbery, burglary, and arms act cases, while more cases in which they could be involved are being identified.

“Their gang leader, Sonu, is wanted in a murder case lodged in Surajpur and has a bounty of ₹25,000 on him. The gang had also burgled a house in Sector 52 on July 25, and on July 27 strike at another house from where they had decamped with jewellery, laptops, and other valuable items. Another burglary had occurred in the same sector on September 3 as well,” said the DCP.

Police officers said that following an investigation into the burglaries, the car’s license plate was caught in a CCTV camera footage which led them to trace the suspects. The gang leader, Sonu, had been in Assam for a while and the three had gathered on Tuesday to sell off some of the stolen goods, said police. They were nabbed by the Sector 24 police near the Morna bus stand following a tip from an informant. The police said that the suspects tried to escape and were arrested after the police personnel gave them a chase during which Sonu was also injured.

The suspects had been active for months and were responsible for at least a dozen burglaries in the city, the police said.

The police recovered a country-made pistol from them, tools used to break into houses, luxury wristwatches, gold chains, anklets, multiple rings among other jewellery, ₹11,500 cash, 18 silver coins, and a stolen Santro car.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.