2 men, 3 cars, 1 bike in 6-hr daylight rampage at Greater Noida

Two armed men, allegedly drunk, went on a six-hour-long rampage, stealing three cars, crashing them, injuring a driver and fleeing off on a stolen bike on Monday. Suspects, Gaurav and Rishu, were arrested after a long chase in Dankaur’s Makanpur Khadar village. All stolen vehicles and a butcher’s knife were seized, police said.

Suspects, Gaurav and Rishu, were arrested after a long chase in Dankaur’s Makanpur Khadar village. All stolen vehicles and a butcher’s knife were seized, police said.

At 10.30 am, the men parked a Toyota Innova on the Surajpur-Kasna Road and signalled a taxi to stop. When Toyota Etios stopped, the men overpowered driver Shailender alias Sonu.

“Three or four men held me at gunpoint. One of them hit me on the head with some rod and they stole my car,” said Sonu.

They drove towards AWHO residential society and crashed it near the complex. They got out of the car and threatened resident Vaibhav Gupta with a butcher’s knife and made away with his Swift Dezire car at 12.30 pm, police said.

“Two men threatened me with a big knife and asked me to leave my car. They sat in the car and asked me to not to call the police. As they drove away, I complained to the police,” said Gupta.

They drove towards Yamuna Expressway and again crashed the car near Rabupura, where they stole another car— a Maruti Wagon R — at 2.30 pm.

They continued towards the expressway, parked the vehicle on the road and tried to stop other cars. When cars didn’t stop, they pelted stones and broke windshields of a few of them.

“At 3.30 pm, the suspects snatched a bike and fled towards Tappal-Haryana border. However, personnel from five police stations chased them. At 4.30 pm, two of the suspects were arrested,” said Greater Noida circle officer 1, Arun Kumar Singh.

Police said the men looked intoxicated and were being questioned.

“We are yet to ascertain if they had any accomplices. No firearms were seized from them, contrary to victims’ statements. We are checking if they dumped the firearms somewhere,” said Singh.

Their motive is unclear and their medico-legal test results are awaited, said police. Gaurav is from Haryana and Rishu is from east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar, Singh said.

A reward of Rs 15,000 was announced for the police team.