Two steal 9 phones in a day to pay fees to their lawyer, nabbed after gunfight in Noida

NOIDA: Two bikers were arrested after a brief

gunbattle

for stealing nine

mobile phones

from people walking on roads in a day.
Police said Ghaziabad resident Aniket Kumar (24) and Anshu Yadav (26) of Noida had targeted around 20 people in the past few days to pay the fee of their lawyer who had got them released in a robbery case earlier this month. The duo were most active around Botanical Garden and in sectors 39, 24 and 57.
A video widely circulated on social media showed one of the accused pleading before a policeman with folded hands that he would never commit robberies in the future. Bursting into tears, he tells the cop he has stolen nine phones in a day to arrange for money.
Police said that after stealing the phones, Aniket and Anshu would destroy the SIM cards and sell the handsets to people saying they needed money urgently for a family emergency.

Amit Kumar, the SHO of Sector 58 police station, said they received a tip-off about the two phone snatchers on Saturday evening.
“So, we deployed police teams at various junctions to look for the two youths on a bike. Around 9pm, we spotted two suspected snatchers and asked them to stop near a signal in Sector 57. But they tried to flee. When cops gave them a chase, they fired at them. Police retaliated, and the accused were hit in their leg. They screeched to a halt and were arrested,” the SHO said.

The nine stolen phones, two country-made pistols and a bike without a registration number were recovered from them. While checking their criminal history, police found eight cases, including one for attempt to murder, registered against Aniket and Anshu each. The cops are trying to find out if they have cases registered in other states as well.
“Six of the phones recovered from them did not have any SIM card. They admitted that they would target people and snatch mainly phones from them to raise money and pay fees of a lawyer who got them released in a robbery case,” Kumar said.
An FIR was registered against the two at Sector 58 police station under sections 392 (robbery) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Arms Act