Ghaziabad: Police have arrested five persons in connection with a Meerut-based businessman being robbed of Rs 25 lakh on Delhi-Meerut Expressway. One of the masterminds was a man who was previously employed by the businessman.An officer said efforts are on to trace six other accused involved in the act.The incident took place near Dasna on Friday. Gillaman, who owns a waste recycling plant, was travelling with two of his relatives to Jafrabad in Delhi to give the cash to his suppliers. Around 7pm, armed men in two cars blocked their vehicle. They held a gun to his head and fled with the money. In his complaint, the businessman said there were quite a few cars on the expressway but no one noticed the robbery taking place.Police registered an FIR against unknown persons under Section 309 (4) (robbery) of the BNS at Wave City police station.DCP Dhawal Jaiswal said police accessed the base transceiver station data of the scene to identify all those who were present at the spot during the robbery using their mobile phone number. They then narrowed it down to a few suspects.“On Tuesday, police received information that some of the suspects were seen in the Wave City area. During a check, two persons were seen riding a motorcycle without a number plate. When asked to slow down, the men tried to flee and started firing at the personnel,” the DCP said.The police team fire back and shot the accused in the legs. They were taken to a nearby hospital where they received treatment and are now stable.An amount of Rs 5 lakh and two illegal pistols were recovered from their possession. During interrogation, they told police about the location of three other accused, who were later arrested.The accused are Saddam (20), Aas Mohmad (30), Osama (25), Nadeem (30) — all residents of Sahibabad — and Asif (38), a resident of Meerut.Police found that Anas previously used to work as a driver for the businessman and had knowledge about how he carried out his payments. Asif lives in the same neighbourhood as Gillaman. Anas and Asif hatched the plan and brought in the others to execute it.The DCP said three theft cases are registered against Saddam in Niwari and one assault case at Sahibabad police station. One assault case is registered against Osama at Sahibabad police station. Meanwhile, Asif has already served a 10-year sentence in a case related to the death of a sub-inspector in a car crash.
