Man who married in helicopter held for robbery

Noida: A man who solemnised his marriage in a helicopter was among six held in Noida for highway robberies. All six, in their early 20s, come from affluent backgrounds, the police said on Friday.

All six are also highly educated, the police said.

The police arrested Vineet, 24, Sonu, 20, Sandy, 20, Satish, 25, Brijesh, 22, and Anuj, 22, from near the Sector 93 flyovers in Noida while they were attempting to loot another person.

"These men - all belonging to upper middle class families - took to looting and snatching activities to lead lavish lifestyles. They were involved in as many as seven loot cases," SKS Pratap, station officer Noida Phase-II police station said.

In fact, their habit of leading affluent lifestyles can be judged from the fact that Vineet had solemnised his marriage in a helicopter in 2005.

He had taken his marriage procession in a helicopter to his bride's place in the Greater Noida area.

The modus opernadi of the gang was simple. They used to hit vehicles on the road, and then get into an altercation with the car's owner. They would then snatch the car at gunpoint and flee from the spot.

In some cases, these men even held the car owners captive for a while and would steal their credit cards to fund shopping excursions, and withdraw money from the ATMs with their debit cards.

They would then release the car owners once their purpose was served.

Vineet, a resident of Salarpur in Noida is pursuing his final year BBA from Global Institute of Management in Greater Noida.

Another accused Anuj stays in Bhangel and is doing his final year B Tech from a private engineering college in Greater Noida. Sonu and Sandy hail from Bihar.

The police have recovered a Skoda Octavia and two Maruti WagonR cars from their possession.

The police also recovered about Rs 1,50,000 worth of gold jewellery, seven mobiles, an LCD Plasma TV, a fridge, a washing machine, a laptop, watches and a 7.1 megapixel digital camera.

"Vineet was carrying a factory made pistol when we apprehended them. Six country-made pistols have been seized from Sonu, Sandy and Satish. A knife has also been found with Anuj," the station officer said.

Of the seven cases in which the youths were said to be involved, four people have approached the police and confirmed that the stolen goods were theirs.

"While one person is presently in Hong Kong, another is currently in Bangalore. We have also called others to come and identify their goods," Pratap said.

The six have been booked under various sections of the IPC.