Meerut (UP), Sept 5: A member of a gang allegedly involved in stealing electric wires and equipment sustained a bullet injury during an encounter with police in Meerut and was subsequently arrested along with three others, police said on Saturday.
Three juveniles were also detained in connection with the case, they said.
Circle Officer (Sadar Dehat) Sudhir Singh said cases had been registered over two theft incidents involving electric wires and equipment in the Bhawanpur area. In one incident, copper was stolen from an alternator, while in the other, copper wire was stolen and a CCTV camera was damaged.
On the night of September 4-5, police received information that some of the accused involved in the thefts were planning another strike, Singh said.
Acting on the information, Bhawanpur police and the rural SWAT team began checking vehicles near the under-construction highway between Aurangabad and Kinanagar.
Three suspects travelling on a motorcycle were spotted during the checking, he said. When signalled to stop, they allegedly opened fire at the police team. In retaliatory firing, Aamir alias Golden sustained a bullet injury to his leg.
Nazim was arrested from the spot and a juvenile was detained, Singh said.
A search operation was subsequently launched for those who had fled the spot, leading to the arrest of Sameer and Faizan and detention of two more juveniles, he said.
The arrested accused were identified as Aamir alias Golden, Nazim, Sameer and Faizan, police said.
Three country-made pistols, Rs 10,500 in cash, a motorcycle and tools allegedly used for cutting electric wires were recovered from them, they said.
