Ballabhgarh police have arrested seven men in connection with a daring warehouse heist in which cigarettes valued at around Rs1 crore were stolen. During the robbery, the warehouse watchman was held hostage and locked inside a room. One of the key accused, Rakesh, is still absconding.
Two accused were apprehended on Tuesday, while the Sector 30 Crime Branch arrested the remaining five on January 17 and secured them on seven days’ police remand.
The case was registered on December 29 at City Ballabhgarh police station under Sections 310(2) (dacoity), 311 (robbery or dacoity with intent to cause grievous hurt), 331(6) (house trespass), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police reports state that the theft occurred between 2 am and 3 am at a cigarette warehouse in Bhudatt Colony. A group of men entered the premises, snatched the mobile phone of watchman Sushil, held him hostage in a room, and stole the warehouse keys. They loaded 58,770 boxes of cigarettes into a vehicle and fled the scene.
The warehouse owner, Pawan Natiya of Delhi’s Jaitpur, filed the complaint that led to the arrests.
The arrested accused are:
Deepak (27) – furniture repairer, Ghaziabad
Virendra (46) – tempo driver, originally from UP, residing in Delhi
Mohammad Umar (36) – painter, UP
Rahul (31) – security guard, UP, residing in Delhi
Vinay (47) – tempo driver, UP
Mukesh Kumar – runs a cigarette and pan masala shop, Ghaziabad
Bablu – resident of UP
Police recovered the Tata Ace vehicle used in the crime (owned by Virendra), around 6,000 boxes of stolen cigarettes, and Rs 5.6 lakh in cash. An additional Rs 25,000 was recovered from Rahul.
Investigations revealed that Mohammad Umar and Rakesh planned the heist, conducting reconnaissance of the warehouse and timing the arrival of cigarette consignments from Sonipat. The stolen goods were later transferred to another vehicle at Bata Chowk and distributed further. Interrogation revealed that Umar handed over 14 cartons to Bablu, who then delivered them to Mukesh Kumar’s shop in Khoda, Ghaziabad.
Police are actively pursuing Rakesh, believed to be a primary conspirator behind the crime, and further arrests are expected.
