Rajkot: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajkot Police has foiled an armed robbery plot targeting an angadia firm in Junagadh with the arrest of five men near Kuwadva village on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad Highway on Sunday. Police seized several weapons, an SUV and multiple mobile phones from the accused. A sixth suspect remains at large.The arrests were made during routine highway patrolling near Wankaner Chowkdi, when an SOG team intercepted a car travelling from Ahmedabad towards Kuwadva after noticing suspicious movements.“After intercepting the vehicle, officers questioned the occupants and searched the car, recovering a country-made pistol, a knife, a baseball bat and other weapons,” DCP (crime) Jagdish Bangarva said.The arrested accused are Zakirali Liyakatali (55), Ranjan Kumar Singh (52), Saiyuddin Ansari (51), Mohammad Sheikh (31), and Sanjay Rajput (48). Their associate Mehboob is absconding, police said. According to police, three of the six suspects are from Uttar Pradesh, two from Maharashtra and one from Bihar.Following the arrests, SOG sub-inspector B V Chudasama lodged a complaint at the Kuwadva Road police station under Sections 310(4), 310(5) and 61(2)(A) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Arms Act.During preliminary interrogation, the accused told investigators that they were travelling to Junagadh to carry out an armed robbery at an angadia firm. Police said Mehboob had earlier conducted reconnaissance of several angadia offices in Jamnagar, Junagadh and other parts of the Saurashtra region.According to investigators, the gang planned to reach Junagadh by evening, survey four to five potential targets and rob the establishment believed to be holding the largest amount of cash.Police investigations have also revealed criminal antecedents involving several of the suspects. Ranjan Kumar Singh faces around nine previous cases in Bihar under the Arms Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Saiyuddin Ansari has disclosed previous arrests in connection with murder, assault, robbery and dacoity, while Zakirali Liyakatali has a history of arrests in theft, assault and robbery cases, police said.Police are continuing their investigation to trace the absconding suspect and establish the full extent of the conspiracy.
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