New Delhi: Two members of a carjacking gang were arrested on early Saturday morning after an exchange of fire from central Delhi's Rani Jhansi Road, police said.
The accused have been identified as Ishtiyaq (40), a resident of Meerut in UP, and Akil (35), a resident of Muzaffarnagar in UP, they said.
The arrest was made based on an information police received about a car theft in the central district, they said.
Acting on the tip-off, police began a search for the vehicle in the area and located it on the Rani Jhansi Road, a senior police officer said.
The accused tried to escape with the vehicle and accidently hit a divider. They then tried to flee by firing gunshots to which police retaliated and injured Ishtiyaq in leg, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) Shweta Chauhan said, adding both the accused were later overpowered.
Four rounds were fired — three by the accused and one by police, she said.
The recovered Kia Seltos car was found to be stolen from Maurya Enclave area, the DCP added. According to police, Ishtiyaq had earlier committed carjacking of a Toyota Fortuner in Rajinder Nagar area. On October 19, the gang was chased by police in which a man named Sazid was arrested and Ishtiyaq and Akil escaped.
They said Ishtiyaq used to commit car theft with his brother Israr, before Israr left the criminal life due to his illness.
Ishtiyaq was previously involved in 32 criminal cases. He was also wanted in two cases of central district, police said, adding Akil too was previously involved in three cases of car thefts. One car, two pistols, two key coding tabs, tools used in car theft and three live cartridges were recovered from the accused, police added.