Four held in 2 encounters

In two separate encounters within hours of each other, Delhi Police arrested four criminals, including a notorious arms supplier, after brief exchanges of fire in the early hours of Saturday.

In the Outer District’s Nangloi area, three wanted men were apprehended after sustaining gunshot wounds to their legs. In a separate incident in South Delhi, the Mehrauli police team foiled an arms supply attempt and arrested Kanishk, alias Koku, (27), a resident of Madangir.

The Mehrauli encounter occurred around 3:15 am on the Lado Sarai–Shamshan Ghat Road, following a tip-off about his movements. When the police team signalled him to stop, he allegedly tried to flee and opened fire. The accused was shifted to AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment.

The police recovered two automatic pistols, loaded magazines, and four empty cartridges from his possession. A crime and forensic team later examined the site. In the second encounter in Nangloi, three wanted criminals — Firoz alias Sajid (38), Mohammad Kamran alias Shahrukh (32), and Osaf Ali (48) — were arrested after a gunfight in the early hours of Saturday. The trio, residents of Loni in Ghaziabad, had earlier opened fire at police officers on Wednesday while attempting to escape during a burglary attempt. Acting on intelligence inputs, police launched an overnight manhunt and located the suspects near Prem Nagar Crossing around 3:35 am. When asked to stop, the accused opened fire at the police officers. The police retaliated, injuring the trio in the legs before securing their arrest. Officers recovered three country-made pistols, several live and empty cartridges, and the motorcycle used in the crime. Both the injured accused and police personnel were taken to SGM Hospital, Mangolpuri, where they are undergoing treatment.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were behind a burglary attempt at a hardware shop in Nangloi earlier this week. They had managed to flee after firing at police near the Mangolpuri flyover and abandoning their car.