Cops arrest burglar suspected in string of thefts in south Delhi after chase, shootout

The 32-year-old suspect, despite being shot in the leg, scaled a 24-foot high boundary wall of a bungalow using a tree, jumped over the wall and fractured his already injured leg.

A 32-year-old suspected burglar suffered a gunshot wound to his leg and was arrested after a brief chase and gunfight inside the Jahanpanah City Forest near Greater Kailash-2 (GK-2) in south Delhi early Friday morning.

The site near GK-2 where the encounter occurred. (AMAL KS/HT)

The shoot-out with the six-member police team happened nearly 10 minutes after the suspect and his four accomplices made unsuccessful burglary attempts at two houses in Block H, GK-3, nearly 700 metres from the shoot-out spot, police said.

Six police personnel from Chhitaranjan (CR) Park , including a sub-inspector (SI) in plainclothes, were patrolling the forested area between Alaknanda and Masjid Moth to nab burglars who have been repeatedly striking houses along the Jahanpanah City Forest when they received information from the police station about two burglary attempts and stone pelting on security guards by the suspects in Block H of GK-3.

They were asked to move towards Block H through the forest and when they reached near S and W block of GK-2, they spotted five suspects and tried to nab them. One suspect took out a knife and tried to attack the personnel. The suspects fled in different directions but were chased by the personnel, said a senior police officer privy to the details of the operation.

Despite being shot in the leg, the suspect scaled a 24-foot high boundary wall of a bungalow using a tree, jumped over the wall and fractured his already injured leg. The police team surrounded the building, entered through the main gate and disarmed the suspect, the officer said. “A case under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jaiker.

He was identified as Sangram Singh, a resident of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, who was previously involved in a case of kidnapping for ransom and criminal conspiracy registered at Seemapuri police station in north-east Delhi.

A series of burglaries and attempted burglaries were reported from residential colonies of S and W blocks in GK-2 along the Jahanpanah City Forest in the past few weeks.

Pushkar Sinha, president of Alaknanda Apartments RWA, said, “We pooled in funds to replace the old fencing... Lights and 16 CCTV cameras were also installed... No burglary has been reported here since February.”