61-yr-old man, wife stabbed in robbery in south Delhi

The victim said that he woke up when he heard a loud noise and saw a man entering their bedroom. He shouted and woke his wife up, and she started shouting too

A 61-year-old retired Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer and his wife were attacked with a knife while resisting robbery by a man who entered their house in Vasant Kunj in the early hours of Saturday. Two men, including the alleged robber, were arrested in connection with the incident.

Police said that the family was able to lock the man inside the room but he escaped from the balcony. (Representational image)

The victim was identified as Abhay Kumar Singh and the accused were identified as Jitender Kumar alias Jitu, native of Meerut, who robbed the house and his associate Arun Kumar, who received the stolen property, said deputy commissioner of police (south west) Rohit Meena. Both the accused are residents of Palam Village.

According to police, their control room received a call at 1.15am on Saturday regarding burglary and injury to two people. When police reached the spot in Vasant Kunj’s D-Block, the victim Singh narrated that he and his wife Anupama woke up when they heard a loud noise. “He saw a man entering their bedroom through the sliding door. Singh started shouting waking his wife up. The intruder injured Singh and his wife,” Meena said.

Police said that the family was able to lock the man inside the room but he escaped from the balcony.

In the first information report (FIR) filed in the case, seen by HT, Singh detailed the incident: “It was around 1am when I heard a noise coming from the balcony adjacent to the bedroom. I woke up and saw a man quietly entering the room through the slide door. I started shouting that it’s a thief. My wife also woke up and she started shouting too,” he said in the FIR.

The accused then showed the couple a large knife and threatened to kill them if they raised alarm. “He attacked me with the knife and I got injured in my head. I tried to snatch the knife so I got injuries in my hands as well. My wife was shouting for help and he attacked her too. He kept saying that he’ll kill us,” the retired officer told police in the FIR.

Subsequently, his son who lived on the first floor and his domestic help who also lived in the building came to their rescue and all four of them locked the accused in the room where the attack took place.

The thief, however, fled from the balcony. He allegedly fled with a duffle bag containing some items including a silver article.

The injured were taken to AIIMS for treatment.

A case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered and investigation was taken up.

“Forensics team collected vital chance prints, clues, and CCTV footage was obtained and scanned. With the help of informers, the suspect was identified within hours of the crime and arrested in less than 12 hours,” Meena said adding that the knife used in the crime was recovered from him.

During interrogation, Jitender allegedly told police that he gave the bag to Arun for disposal and Arun was also arrested. Police said that Jitender is found to be involved in at least 13 cases of burglary, robbery and theft reported from across south, south east and south west Delhi and Haryana. Police are verifying his involvements in Uttar Pradesh and other states.