Cops bust Namasthe gang' from Ghaziabad

Hyderabad: Central crime station police busted an interstate robbery gang known as the ‘Namasthe gang’, by arresting two people from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.

The suspects usually stop their victims on the road saying namasthe or good morning and ask for directions to check if they had any valuables on them. Then they take out dummy pistols and rob them by threatening to shoot, police said.

The suspects are Babbu Malik, 28, from Mustafabad, Delhi and Imran Malik, 32, from Ghaziabad district.

The duo robbed one Sri Popuri Venkata Ratnam, 59, on February 12 while he was visiting the Nallagutta Saibaba Temple on Minister’s Road.

“As he was walking home the duo greeted him and asked him for directions. When they saw a gold chain on his neck they took out a dummy pistol and snatched the chain weighing 30 grams,” said a police official.

CCS DCP Avinash Mohanty said the gang is based in Pasonda village of Shahibabad Thana in Ghaziabad.

“Before 2010 they used to do the ‘Kabada Bangaru’ business (buying and selling of old electronic goods). They cheated many people by selling duplicate IPhones, laptops etc. After taking money from customers they used to replace originals with duplicates. Later, they started chain snatchings and robberies. They extended operations to metros like Hyderabad, New Delhi and Bengaluru. Now they purchase old scooters from scrap dealers and send them to target cities using fake registration numbers to use them for robbery. They move around on a scooter to identify targets. They then stop their vehicle away from the victim and rob them after flashing a namasthe or saying good morning,” DCP Avinash Mohanty said.

Babbu Malik is a notorious gangster and history sheeter with 32 criminal cases against him. He also has 11 other cases against him at various police stations across India.