2 cattle thieves arrested after shootout in Dwarka

New Delhi: Two Mewat-based cattle thieves were arrested after a 10 km chase and a brief exchange of fire with the Delhi police. One arrested person sustained bullet injuries in both the legs and a few police personnel also sustained injuries during stone pelting.

The arrested accused have been identified as Liyakat Ali and Taj Mohd, both residents of Mewat. They were on a tempo, which was carrying bags filled with stones and six cows with their legs tied with ropes.

The criminals opened indiscriminate fire at the police party and smashed barricades and the window screen of the PCR vans as they threw stones at them. According to the police, it received a PCR call on Friday night saying that some cows were being loaded in a truck at Sector 1 in Dwarka. The caller also said that the occupants of the truck were pelting stones at the persons trying to stop them.

Later, the cow lifters started pelting stones at the police team chasing them. They were escaping through a service road. But their escape was cut short owing to a high tension pole on the road. The alleged persons rammed the tempo into the PCR van and fled the spot.

The cow lifters then opened fire at the PCR van, which was continuously chasing the tempo from the beginning. The officer of the PCR van fired at the tempo and punctured its rear tyre. In the mean time, another PCR staff rushed towards the tempo in order to intercept it.

The occupants of the tempo left the vehicle and opened fire at the police in order to escape. In self defence and to stop their escape, police returned the fire which hit Liyakat on both his legs. Another robber, Taj, was chased and apprehended.