The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has busted an inter-state robbery syndicate in Lucknow, arresting six men early on Sunday, 8 November, and recovering Rs 48,45,000 in cash, officials said. The arrested men include the gang's alleged mastermind, Dinesh Chandra Yadav alias Chhotu.

Source: IANS via Hi India

According to officials, the STF acted on intelligence that gang members were assembling to divide the proceeds of their robberies ahead of Diwali. A team led by Inspector Hemant Bhushan Singh, under the supervision of Additional Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Singh, laid a blockade and intercepted all six suspects at around 1.50 am near the gate of a cricket academy under the Sahara Bridge, in the Gomti Nagar police station area of the Lucknow Commissionerate.

Source: Nation Press

Apart from Yadav, the arrested accused were identified as Saurabh Yadav, 25, Aman alias Raman Yadav, 25, Saurabh Dixit, 22, and Mohit Kanoujia, 24, all residents of Lucknow, and Gyan Singh, 25, originally from Begusarai in Bihar and currently residing in Chinhat, Lucknow. The cash was recovered in separate amounts from each man, including Rs 12,50,000 from Dinesh Yadav, Rs 11,10,000 from Aman Yadav and Rs 10,90,000 from Saurabh Yadav, police said.

Investigators said the syndicate allegedly targeted cash couriers transporting money for spice and agricultural commodity traders on routes between Gujarat and Lucknow. According to the police, an informant named Amrit Lal Pal allegedly tracked the couriers' movements and noted the registration numbers of their scooters, while Kanoujia allegedly conducted reconnaissance on a motorcycle and alerted the gang when a courier set out. The gang would then allegedly ram a car into the courier's two-wheeler, threaten the fallen rider with a pistol and assault him with iron rods and wooden sticks before snatching the cash bags, officials said. Police said the gang later bought another car with money from earlier heists and used it in subsequent robberies.

The STF also seized an illegal .32 bore pistol fitted with a magazine and two live cartridges, a car allegedly purchased with robbery proceeds, the motorcycle allegedly used for reconnaissance, seven mobile phones, and identity documents, driving licences and PAN cards said to belong to victims and associates.

A case has been registered at Gomti Nagar police station under Case Crime No. 491/2026, and the accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act, officials said. Police said questioning of the arrested men has linked the syndicate to several major robbery incidents reported across Lucknow, and further legal proceedings are under way.