Three members of the Rajesh Bawania gang were arrested after a crossfire in south Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar area in the early hours of Wednesday, Delhi Police said adding that eight bullets were exchanged between the suspects and a raiding team from the crime branch in which one of the suspects suffered a gunshot in his leg while a bullet hit the bulletproof vest of a sub-inspector

The three had come to Delhi with arms and ammunition to commit robberies on the instructions of their handler, Dinesh Karala, presently lodged in Tihar Jail.

“Three firearms, including an automatic Italian pistol, were recovered with four cartridges and a bike the three were riding when the gunfight started on Mata Rani Vijaya Sindhiya Road in Sarojini Nagar in the early hours of Wednesday,” said special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav.

The arrested men were identified as Sachin, 28, from Jind in Haryana, Prince, 18, and Ritik alias Gabbu, 20, both from Loni in Ghaziabad. Sachin was involved in five serious cases like robbery and was wanted in a kidnapping case. The other two were wanted in a recent case of rioting and firing in Ghaziabad, police said.

Yadav said that the crime branch teams have been working on criminals, including those from other states, to prevent crimes in Delhi. One of the teams recently received a tip-off that the three would be near Sarojini Nagar.

“The assailants fired four rounds. One bullet hit SI Hemant’s bulletproof vest while head constable Sanjay had a narrow escape. The team members fired three bullets in self-defence and to nab them. One bullet hit Sachin in his right leg while the other two were also overpowered. He was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment,” added the special CP.