5 held for ₹40 lakh robbery in East Delhi

Five people were arrested for robbing a couple of ₹40lakh and jewellery in Delhi. One suspect is a cousin of the victims who planned the robbery.

Five people were arrested for allegedly robbing a couple of ₹40lakh and jewellery after tying them up at their residence in Shahdara’s Jagatpuri on August 11, the Delhi Police said on Sunday. One of the suspects is one of the victims’ cousins who planned the robbery, they added. They were arrested on different dates and locations.

Deputy commissioner of police (shahdara) Rohit Meena said that the first arrest was made a week after the incident was reported. (Representational Image)

Deputy commissioner of police (shahdara) Rohit Meena said that the first arrest was made a week after the incident was reported. The arrested suspects were identified by the police as Rajender Kumar, 29, Naveen Kumar, 42, Deepa (who goes by her first name), 33, Mukesh Kumar, 55, and Rachna Singh, 35.

Police said that the victims did not wish to be identified but are a married couple. While Rachna is man’s cousin, Deepak, a prime absconding suspect, is her partner. Naveen is Deepak’s uncle and Rajender is their associate. Mukesh is the father of Ashu Balyan, another absconding suspect and Deepak’s brother-in-law. Deepa is also an associate.

Investigators said that the prime accused, Rachna, was earlier in a relationship with the complainant man. However, he broke up with her and married someone else. “This upset Rachna and she wanted to take revenge, while the others saw this as an opportunity to make easy money,” said an investigators.

According to the police, they received a control room call at 8.15am where the complainant alleged that when he reached home after dropping his son to school, three people entered the parking lot on the ground floor of the house, restrained him and forcefully took him to his fourth-floor residence at gunpoint.

“Thereafter, they entered the house, tied the hands of the complainant and his wife, and robbed them of ₹40 lakh and gold jewellery weighing 350-400 grams,” Meena said adding that a case was registered.

During the probe, police obtained and scanned CCTV footage from eight cameras and found that four people including a woman had reached the spot on two scooters.

A senior police officer aware of the matter said that photographs of the suspect were shown to the victims and they identified all the suspects as one of them was the man’s cousin. They also identified the owners of the scooters, which helped in identifying the suspects.

After analysing the call detail records of the suspects, the first accused Rajender, a resident of Ghaziabad, was arrested on August 20his house.

Investigators then found that Deepak gave ₹5 lakh to his uncle Naveen, a resident of Harsh Vihar and he was arrested from his residence on August 20 as well. The money was recovered, and police said they were looking for Deepak.

Police said further investigations revealed messages the suspects received from a financial firm. Police contacted the firm and it was found that one Deepa had deposited some of the robbed gold to get the cash.

“The raid was conducted at her house in Ghaziabad and around 210 grams was recovered,” Meena said, adding that Deepa was arrested on August 22 her house.

Police later also found that a huge amount of cash was deposited in the bank account of another suspect, Balyan’s father Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh was arrested on August 23 and ₹2.5 lakh was recovered, Meena added.

Further interrogation led to Rachna’s arrest on September 2. During interrogation, Rachna, a resident of Shahdara, revealed that as the victim was her cousin, she was aware of all the cash and jewellery available in his house.

She said she planned the robbery with Deepak, Balyan and Rajender. “Rachna led all of them to the house and while she remained outside in the street, the other three went to execute the plan,” police added.

The DCP said that non-bailable warrants have been issued against two absconding suspects Balyan and Deepak and raids are being conducted to arrest them. “A total of ₹24 lakh and 210 grams of jewellery have been recovered along with a country-made pistol and two live cartridges,” the officer added.