ICICI Bank robbers shot dead in gunbattle, claim police

Ghaziabad, Dec 22 (IANS) The Ghaziabad police Monday claimed to have shot dead two criminals allegedly involved in the Rs.3.5 million heist at an ICICI Bank branch here last week, officials said.

The two criminals, identified as Neeraj Gupta and Pawan Yadav alias Goldi Yadav, were shot dead in a gun battle with the police in Kinaoni locality under Indirapuram police station here late Sunday night, the police said.

'Gupta and Yadav were residing in the Indirapuram area in a rented house,' Senior Superintendent of Police L. Ravi Kumar told IANS.

'On Sunday night when some policemen was patrolling the area, Gupta and Yadav were found roaming in suspicious circumstances. When the police team instructed them to stop, they fired at the policemen and attempted to flee. In retaliatory fire, Gupta and Yadav were killed,' Kumar said.

Gupta was a resident of Pant Nagar University Campus, Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), and Yadav was a resident of JP Nagar.

On their criminal verification, the police found 11 cases registered against Gupta and nine cases against Yadav.

Rs.1,35,000 cash, two pistols and a motorcycle were recovered from their possession, the police said.