Rehan, Khalid, Arasav and Abid arrested with Rs 41 lakh cash after car carrying robbery loot crashes in Morena

A road accident in Morena has helped police crack a Rs 41 lakh robbery reported in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. Four men from Bhopal, Rehan (22), Khalid Qureshi (40), Arasav (35) and Abid (27) have been arrested in connection with the case. Police claim that the four were fleeing after stealing two bags containing cash from the vehicle of three animal traders when their car crashed into a truck on a flyover in Morena early on September 15.

The suspects had travelled around 118 km from the robbery location before the accident brought their escape to an end. The crash not only injured the four men but also led to the recovery of the stolen cash, a pistol, a knife or dagger and black masks from the vehicle.

 

According to Firozabad police, the robbery was planned after a Bhopal resident identified as Raj, who had been staying with relatives in Firozabad, kept watch on three animal traders, Jaan Mohammad, Rahees and Anees for around 10 days.

 

Police said Raj observed the traders daily routine and noticed that they would leave their home at around 2 am carrying a large amount of cash. They would travel early to reach the morning animal market. The information was passed on to Rehan, Khalid, Arasav and Abid, who were then called from Bhopal to Firozabad.

 

The police investigation suggests that the accused were aware of the traders movements and the timing of their journey before the robbery was carried out.

 

 

 

On September 14, the three traders left for the market in their car at around 2 am. Shortly after starting their journey, one of them realised that he had forgotten his mobile phone at home.

 

The car was turned back.

 

According to police, this gave the accused the opportunity they were waiting for. While one trader went inside the house to collect the phone and the other two moved some distance away, the accused approached the vehicle, took out two bags containing cash and escaped.

 

Police said the two bags contained around Rs 41 lakh.

 

After the robbery was reported, Firozabad police began tracking the suspects as they escaped through Tundla and moved towards Madhya Pradesh.

 

 

The accused were travelling towards Gwalior when their car met with an accident in Morena.

 

At around 4 am on September 15, the car collided with the rear of a truck while the driver was trying to overtake it on a flyover in the Kotwali area of Morena.

 

The impact left all four occupants injured and trapped inside the damaged vehicle.

 

 

BJP leader Arjun Tomar, who was travelling towards Machkund with his friend Ashok Parmar, also stopped at the spot to help the injured men.

 

According to Tomar, one of the injured men asked him to take out a bag from the damaged car, claiming that it contained clothes. But when Tomar lifted the bag, he found it unusually hard and suspected that it could contain something valuable.

 

Another injured man pointed towards a second bag inside the vehicle.

 

Tomar then handed both bags over to the police.

 

When police opened them, they found bundles of cash inside. The vehicle was searched and officers also recovered a pistol, a knife or dagger and black masks.

 

 

Police questioned the four injured men after recovering the cash and weapons. Firozabad police were contacted as investigators tried to establish whether the cash could be connected to any recent robbery.

 

The questioning helped investigators connect the four men with the Rs 41 lakh robbery involving the animal traders in Firozabad.

 

Firozabad police then sent a team to Morena to continue the investigation and formally examine the recovered cash, vehicle and other material.

 

 

According to police records, Khalid Qureshi has previously been booked in Bhopal in cases relating to gambling, assault and theft. He has also reportedly been listed as a monitored offender in the Ashoka Garden area.

Investigators are checking the records of Rehan, Arasav and Abid as well.

 

Police have also found information linking Abid with earlier cases related to ATM cloning. Investigators are now looking into whether the men were operating independently or had links with a wider interstate criminal network.

 

 

The investigation is now spread across Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh and Morena, Gwalior-Chambal and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

 

Police are examining the accused's mobile phones, call records, movements, previous cases and their connections with one another. Investigators are also trying to reconstruct the journey from Firozabad to Morena and determine who was involved at each stage.

 

Rasulpur police station in-charge Pradeep Kumar said investigators are examining whether the four arrested men were the only people involved or whether others were also part of the robbery.

 

The police are now trying to establish the complete chain of events, from the surveillance of the animal traders in Firozabad, to the arrival of the Bhopal-based accused, the theft of Rs 41 lakh and their escape towards Madhya Pradesh, which finally ended with a crash on a Morena flyover.