3 attack couple after car breaks down on DME

Ghaziabad: A couple, a doctor and a cardiologist, were attacked by three men who tried to flee with their car and other belongings after the vehicle broke down on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway near Ghaziabad’s Bhojpur on Monday. The woman, a doctor at a private hospital in Dehradun, fractured her arm in the scuffle.
Police said on Wednesday the incident took place while the two of them, returning from a vacation in the Maldives, were going back to their hometown Dehradun (Uttarakhand) from the Delhi airport.They had borrowed a car from their friend.
Around 11pm, the car came to a halt in the middle of the expressway, possibly because of a technical issue. The couple tried to seek help from other commuters but no one stopped until the three men on a motorcycle, according to the complaint.
“The three bike-borne men offered to help but suddenly they attacked us and tried to snatch the purse and phone from my wife’s hand. One of the accused then started beating us up with a stick. Another one tried to start the car, but couldn’t. Then he broke the headlight of the car in a fit of rage,” said Dr Gaurav Sharma, a cardiologist.
His wife Dr Ritu Sharma was injured and needs surgery for her fracture, he said.
“Somehow we managed to fight the three men. They fled after another car that was passing by stopped. We informed the police and called our friend in Meerut who took us to a hospital there for treatment,” Gaurav said.
Police said they have filed an FIR on the basis of the complaint. The accused – yet to be identified – have been booked under section 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC. “We are trying to check the CCTV footage of the DME and areas under the Bhojpur police station jurisdiction to trace the culprits. Two teams have been formed to nab the culprits,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural).
Ghaziabad has reported a spate of snatchings and daring thefts in recent months.
In March, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended Ghaziabad police chief Pawan Kumar for alleged dereliction of duty in failing to curb crime and days later appointed G Muniraj in his place.