Greater Noida, June 5 (IANS) In a significant breakthrough, the Greater Noida police on Friday busted a burglary racket involved in looting and ransacking of the locked residences in the city and recovered key valuables, including cash and jewellery, from their possession.

The police, acting on a tip-off, swooped upon the gang and apprehended four miscreants.

Two of them got injured during an encounter while two others were arrested during a combing operation.

The police recovered substantial amount of valuables from them, including gold jewellery worth Rs 51 lakh, silver jewellery worth Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 11.27 lakh in cash.

Two motorcycles and four illegal country-made pistols were also impounded.

According to the police, the miscreants were caught during a routine check on the service road near Moser Baer roundabout on Friday night.

The suspects riding two motorbikes without number plates were intercepted but instead of halting there, they attempted to flee. When accosted, they opened fire at the police team.

The police retaliated in which Vakil alias Rizwan and Sarfaraz alias Faiz were injured, while their accomplices Bhole alias Bhola and Alijan were arrested.

During questioning, the accused admitted to the crime.

Sharing their modus operandi, the gang members said that they used to scout locked houses in Noida, Greater Noida, and the National Capital Region before theft.

Bhole, a Rapido driver by profession, would roam various housing societies to gather information on locked houses and pass it on to his associates.

The gang would then execute the thefts in a planned manner.

The gang conducted their latest and major theft at the Paramount Society in Surajpur police station area on April 25. They also robbed houses in Jaitpur village and Magadh Enclave in Sector-144 in absence of the owners and decamped with valuables.

Police said that the arrested individuals are hardened criminals as dozens of cases involving offences such as theft, robbery, violations of the Arms Act and the Gangster Act, and attempted murder have been registered against them in several places, including Ghaziabad, Sambhal, Hapur, Rampur, and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

The prime accused, Vakil alias Rizwan, has more than 32 criminal cases against him, while more than 17 cases have been recorded against Sarfaraz.

–IANS

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