UP: Stolen brass statues worth Rs 13 lakh recovered by Aligarh police; 6 held

AGRA: Six men, allegedly involved in looting 626 brass statues worth Rs 13 lakh, were arrested by the Aligarh police, after one of the criminals was injured in an encounter in Atrauli area on Thursday morning. Their four accomplices are absconding.
Police have recovered the brass statues along with Rs 49000 cash and one country-made pistol. The statues were looted on the intervening night of July 11 and 12 in Sambhal district of UP, when the truck carrying them was on way from Aligarh to Moradabad.

Senior superintendent of police Ajay Kumar Sahini told TOI that a police party was sent to arrest the criminals after a tip-off. The accused were reportedly planning to commit some crime when they were surrounded by the police party. When challenged, they opened fire and in the encounter that ensued, one of them was injured, while four of them managed to escape.

The injured, identified as Sachin Sharma, 25, who sustained a bullet injury in his right leg was admitted to the community health centre, from where he was referred to the district hospital. He is being kept under observation.
Besides Sachin, those arrested have been identified as Dharmendra, Raj Kumar, Rahul, Vikas Kumar, and Sanjeev Kumar. Those who escaped were identified as Sagar, Bhupendra, Pankaj, and Moveen.

The SSP said that the statues were recovered from Bulandshahr, where they had been sold off by the criminals. He said that investigations indicated that the suspects were involved in other crimes too. "The arrested criminals will be handed over to Sambhal Police, as the FIR was registered there," said the SSP.
Aligarh has witnessed a series of encounters with criminals in recent months. Around 20 encounters have been reported in Aligarh in the past one year, in which six criminals were killed and around 19 were injured.