Golpayegan Incident Ends with Arrest of One Thief and Death of Another

According to Iranian government officials, one of the 'three armed thieves' involved in a confrontation with police in Golpayegan that resulted in the deaths of six people was arrested on Thursday, January 11, in Fooladshahr, Isfahan province, and another thief was killed. Hossein Ashtari, the deputy commander of the police force, stated that these three armed thieves are brothers, and the arrested individual has 'confessed' to ten armed robberies accompanied by murder and injury. Hossein Farasat, the governor of Golpayegan, identified the arrested individual as 'Mansour M.' and the deceased as 'Mohammad M.' Reports indicate that one of these three brothers was also killed in a confrontation with police in Golpayegan on Saturday, January 6. In these confrontations, three police officers and two civilians were also killed. According to police officials, these thieves fled from Aligudarz County in Lorestan province and, after a confrontation with police checkpoint forces in Khomein County, escaped towards Golpayegan, where they engaged in a confrontation with police. The state news agency IRNA reported, citing Hossein Ashtari, that police entered the suspects' hideout at 11 PM on Thursday, January 11, and engaged them 'immediately upon entry.' According to Mr. Ashtari, during this confrontation, one of the suspects fired '400 rounds' and threw 'three grenades' at the police, ultimately being killed himself. Hossein Hosseinzadeh, the deputy police commander of Isfahan province, noted that the suspects lived in a residential complex and that no harm came to other residents. Mr. Ashtari emphasized: 'The arrested suspect confessed that in addition to the confrontations in Khomein and Golpayegan, he committed ten armed robberies in the cities of Isfahan, Zarindasht, Mobarakeh, Varnamkhast, Shahr-e Kord, and Lordegan with the help of his brothers.' Azizollah Maleki, the police commander of Markazi province, mentioned on Thursday that following the arrest of one of the 'perpetrators' of the Golpayegan incident, 'good news' would be published in the coming days. He did not provide details about the arrest of this individual or his connection to the three armed thieves. According to IRNA, on Tuesday evening, two 'armed' thieves, after stealing a Peykan car in Golpayegan, engaged with police and ultimately escaped. Bahman Amiri Moghadam, the police commander of Khorasan Razavi, also reported on Wednesday, January 10, about an encounter between two armed thieves and police in Mashhad on Wednesday, resulting in one of the thieves being injured.