Cops raid several places in Ghaziabad’s Khoda colony to trace over 100 suspected criminals

The police from Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi, in a joint operation on Saturday evening, raided several places in Ghaziabad’s Khoda colony to trace the location of over 100 suspected criminals.

Named as ‘Prahar,’ the operation was carried out after the police from the three cities compiled a list of criminals living in Khoda, which shares its boundary with Delhi and Noida. According to the police, many criminals commit crime in the neighbouring cities and cross the border and hide themselves in the densely populated colony to evade arrest.

“A combined list of 120 alleged criminals was formulated who had residential addresses in Khoda colony. They were mostly known for involvement in street crimes such as robbery, burglary, snatching, and vehicle lifting,” said Kumar Ranvijay Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Zone 1 (Noida).

He said that the two-hour operation was carried out from 4-6 pm. “The idea was to verify the whereabouts of these criminals and to monitor their movement to ensure that they were staying away from any criminal activities,” said Singh.

From the Noida police commissionerate, about 60 police personnel were involved in the raids, while 30 from Delhi and 20 from Ghaziabad police were part of the operation.

“During the raids, some of the men were found to be missing from their official addresses. A separate list of absconders is being prepared and the action will be taken separately. Some of the men were found to be abiding by laws. But there were 27 suspicious persons. These men have been detained for further questioning. We will prepare a dossier and verify the activities they have been involved in. If they are found innocent, they will be released,” said the additional DCP.

The police will continue with this joint operation in coming weeks where different pockets will be chosen and whereabouts of other criminals involved in petty and serious crimes will be verified, said the officials.

The Delhi police said that a similar operation was carried out in Khoda colony, along with the Ghaziabad police, a fortnight ago. “The East district (Delhi) police in coordination with Noida and Ghaziabad police carried out the operation on Saturday. This time a larger area was covered,” said Jasmeet Singh, deputy commissioner of police (east) .

Khord colony houses nearly 42,000 homes with a population of about four lakh. The Ghaziabad police said that a team from the Khoda police station was present during the raids. “It was a joint operation of all three police forces. The idea was to monitor history sheeters and other criminals as well as a sort of confidence building exercise for police personnel to ensure they are active. We will continue such measures at border areas,” said Abhishek Verma, superintendent of police (city).