Ghaziabad: Looted cigarette truck worth Rs 3.5 crore recovered, 1 held

Ghaziabad: A truck carrying a consignment of cigarettes worth Rs 3.5 crore, which was looted last month, has been recovered and one person arrested, police said on Thursday.

Bhojpur Police recovered the truck carrying cigarettes of a prominent brand which was looted by a gang of robbers at gun-point and seized part of the consignment sold in Mathura and Agra.

SSP KS Emanual said the truck carrying a consignment of 380 cartons of cigarettes, worth Rs 3.5 crore, was dispatched from Saharanpur to Ghaziabad on May 23.

A gang of six armed robbers, who were chasing the truck in an SUV from Saharanpur, stopped it in Modi Nagar in Ghaziabad district and forced the driver to take the vehicle to Bhojpur village.

Later they allegedly injected him with a tranquiliser, making him unconscious, police said. They unloaded the consignment and dispatched it to Mathura, Agra, and Mumbai.

The gang then drove the truck to Mathura where they abandoned it.

During interrogation one of the accused Anil Karira, a native of Agra, confessed to the crime, police said, adding he has been sent to jail. Five other gang members are absconding, they said.

Police said the cigarettes sold in Mathura and Agra have been recovered and teams will go to Mumbai to seize the cigarette cartons sold there, the officer added.