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NEW DELHI: Fear of being shot by police in Uttar Pradesh made two brothers commute to Delhi every day to commit snatchings and robberies . They were arrested by outer Delhi police.

Mohammed Firoze (28) and Mohammed Amzad (24) come from Pilakhua in UP’s Hapur. They committed crimes through the day in west, outer and south Delhi areas and returned home in the evening.

They had an associate named Dharmender who often accompanied them on their criminal errands. He was arrested too.

DCP (outer) Seju P Kuruvilla gave details of the police operation that nabbed the trio. He said the special staff unit of the district received a tip-off from an informer that a gang of robbers was coming to Paschim Vihar on stolen bikes to sell off cellphones its members had looted.

A special team led by inspector Sukhbir Malik was formed to catch them. “A trap was laid near a DDA market in the area. Two people were spotted riding a black TVS Apache motorcycle while a third suspect was on a black Yamaha FZ-S bike. They were travelling from Multan Nagar signal towards Balbir Singh Marg,” Kuruvilla added.

They were flagged down after their identity was confirmed by the informer. The bikers tried to reverse and flee but were chased down and overpowered.

Police found 18 stolen mobile phones on them. When asked to produce the documents of the motorbikes, they couldn’t and failed to give satisfactory answers. Eventually, they confessed and revealed that they had stolen the two-wheelers from Mangolpuri and Pandav Nagar.

They then gave out their modus operandi. They would travel to Delhi from Hapur on a bus and get down at Kashmere Gate ISBT. There, they would steal a motorbike from the parking area. They would then ride around the city, looking for potential targets. After every crime, they would dump the bike on the roadside and steal another two-wheeler for the next crime. If they spotted a police picket, they would park the bike ahead of it and walk across to steal another vehicle.

At night, they would board another bus back to Hapur. The loot would be sold off to a receiver in UP. Police are now trying to track him down.

The trio was taken on police remand for questioning. They also revealed that they came out of a UP jail a few months ago, but didn’t dare get back to their old ways due to multiple police encounters happening in UP. Delhi was a safer bet for them to earn money.

Police recovered two more stolen bikes based on their statements.

