Earring snatcher arrested after encounter in UP's Bareilly, pistol and stolen jewellery recovered

Bareilly: A man involved in snatching a woman's earring in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district was arrested on Monday after an encounter, in which he sustained bullet injuries, police said.

Police recovered an illegal .32-bore pistol, two live cartridges, one empty cartridge, the motorcycle allegedly used in the crime, and the stolen yellow-metal earring from his possession.

According to the police, the accused was identified with the help of the 'Find Criminals' and 'Face Search' technology available on the Yaksha App.

The theft incident came to light after Sunil, a resident of village Kamalpur Palpur under the Cantt police station area of Bareilly, lodged a complaint on November 1, reporting that on October 30, he and his wife, Ishu, were travelling on a motorcycle to their in-laws' house in Mohalla Kanoon Goyan under the Faridpur police station area, when at around 5 p.m., near Dashmesh Dhaba, an unidentified motorcycle-borne man allegedly snatched an earring from his wife's ear and fled from the spot.

Following the complaint, an FIR (No. 833/2026) under Section 304(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered against an unidentified accused at Faridpur police station, and a police team was constituted to investigate the case.

During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage and used the 'Find Criminals - Find by Face' technology available on the Yaksha App to identify the suspect as Devraj, son of Shyam Singh, a resident of village Bakaniya.

In a subsequent development on Monday, police received information from an informer that the accused involved in the October 30 snatching incident near Faridpur Toll Plaza was roaming on a motorcycle near village Uganpur and might commit another crime.

Acting on the information, teams from the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Faridpur police station launched a checking operation near the unpaved canal track in village Mohanpur.

At around 7.30 a.m., the police spotted a motorcycle-borne man approaching. When the teams signalled him to stop, he opened fire at the police personnel with a pistol. In retaliatory firing in self-defence, the motorcycle rider sustained bullet injuries and fell to the ground.

During questioning, the injured man identified himself as Devraj, son of Shyam Bihari, a resident of village Bakaniya under Faridpur police station. He was subsequently taken to the district hospital for treatment, while further legal proceedings were initiated.

His motorcycle was reportedly being used without a registration number plate. After its chassis number was checked through the e-Challan application, police traced its registration number to UP25ED6693. The police said the same motorcycle had been used in the October 30 snatching incident near Faridpur Toll Plaza.

During questioning, Devraj admitted to snatching the earring on October 30. The recovered jewellery was also identified as the stolen property in connection with FIR No. 833/2026.

Police said the arrested accused, aged 28, has eight previous criminal cases registered against him in Bareilly district.

These include cases registered under Sections 379/411, 365/506 and 413/414 of the Indian Penal Code, provisions of the Arms Act, Sections 309(4) and 317(2), and the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.

The cases were registered at Baradari, Faridpur, and Izzatnagar police stations between 2019 and 2025.

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