Ghaziabad: A robber was arrested after a brief gunfight with police in the Sihani Gate area on Wednesday, while one of his associates managed to flee. Police identified the man as Irfan (20), who currently resides in Loni. He was injured in his left leg during the encounter and has been admitted to a govt hospital. ACP (Sihani Gate) Upasana Pandey said a joint operation was carried out by the SWAT team, crime branch and Sihani Gate police following a tip-off about a red Swift car allegedly being used to plan a robbery. Acting on the information, police set up checking near Hamdard Chowraha in the early hours. “When the car was signalled to stop, it rammed into a tree and its occupants tried to flee. They opened fire on the police team with intent to kill. In retaliatory firing, one accused was shot in the leg, while another escaped under the cover of darkness,” Pandey said. From Irfan’s possession, police recovered a country-made pistol (.315 bore), one live cartridge, two empty cartridges, Rs 1,500 in cash, four looted mobile phones and the red Swift car. Irfan told the police that he along with his associates were involved in the Jan 23 incident in the Tundla police station area of Firozabad district, where they allegedly booked an Eco car, kidnapped the driver, made him drink an intoxicating substance, and looted his car, mobile phone and cash before abandoning him in Firozabad. He also identified the escaped accomplice as Mustafat of Loni.
