High drama ensued at a sparsely populated part of Dombivli after a resident of one of the five buildings in Ayodhya Nagar reported a housebreak in progress in the wee hours yesterday. The five-member police squad dispatched from the Tilak Nagar police station to investigate was soon dodging bullets, as a four-member gang of robbers who had entered an empty flat on the ground floor of one building opened fire and later escaped in a hijacked newspaper delivery vehicle.

A resident of one of the five buildings in the area — Ram, Lakshman, Bharat, Luv and Kush — called around 3.53 am yesterday reporting that a possible robbery was taking place in the ground floor flat in Luv building. The police team consisting of five constables armed with batons reached the spot, and while two cops remained at the gates three went inside to investigate.