The three men also thrashed the driver and the helper

GHAZIABAD: Three men were arrested early on Monday for allegedly robbing the driver and helper of an Army truck that was carrying helicopter parts worth Rs 250 crore on Saturday. Police said the arrested men did not know about the consignment that was being carried to Imphal from Delhi cantonment. The parts of the helicopters, deployed in border areas, had been sent to Delhi for an inspection.

Police said the truck had left Delhi cantonment around 11pm on Friday.

“An army personnel, Vishal, and a different driver were assigned the duty to accompany the vehicle, but they handed over the truck to driver Atul and helper Anil somewhere in Delhi and Vishal had asked them to pick him up from his house on the way,” said SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh.

Around 1.30am when the truck reached near New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad , a Swift car came from the back side and intercepted the vehicle. Some men came out of the car and snatched Rs 20,000 cash and ATM cards from Atul and Anil at gunpoint. Another helper, Ashok, managed to escape.

Police said the robbers held the duo hostage and beat them up with the butt of the gun. They also burnt their hands and other body parts with cigarettes in order to know the pin number of the ATM cards. According to the SSP, the accused tried to withdraw money from an ATM in Raj Nagar Extension using the victims’ ATM cards, however, they failed. They then dumped the duo around 7.5 km away from Raj Nagar Extension and fled.

The duo then informed the army personnel at the Delhi cantonment and then filed a complaint at Sihani Gate police station.

The three arrested men Sonu Prajapati, Sonu Tyagi and Praveen Das, all belong to Ghaziabad. While Tyagi is a high-school pass, the other two have failed Class VI.

Singh told TOI that Sonu Prajapati’s father had bought a second hand swift car around a year ago. On the basis of the car’s registration number, the first owner of the car was traced in Haryana who told police that he had sold it to one Rakesh Prajapati. Police on Saturday detained Rakesh who revealed that his son had taken the car on the day the robbery was conducted and did not return home after that.

Later, a police team nabbed Sonu Prajapti and Praveen from Sihani Gate and early on Monday Tyagi was also arrested from his residence.

“An FIR has been registered against all the three at Sihani Gate police station and the stolen money and ATM cards have been recovered, besides the illegal pistol and some live cartridges,” said Singh.

The truck had been lying unattended for about four hours, said police. If stolen, a major loss could have occurred to the army.

