Man held for abducting 2 brothers in fake raid in Delhi

A businessman was arrested for masterminding a fake police raid to rob two brothers of ₹40 lakh and valuables in Delhi. The accomplices remain at large.

A 48-year-old businessman has been arrested for allegedly masterminding a “fake” police raid in a bid to “cheat” two businessman brothers in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, police said on Sunday. The accused, who owed the two brothers money for some jewellery, allegedly had them kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint by two men impersonating police officials.

Police said the accused owed the two brothers money (Photo for representation)

The incident took place on Thursday night with the impersonators driving around for six hours across Delhi and Haryana, physically assaulted the two brothers, and robbing them of ₹40 lakh in cash, as well as jewellery and other valuables worth around ₹12 lakh, the police said, adding the estimate did not include cost of car. They have yet to be arrested.

The incident came to light after the alleged kidnappers dumped the two brothers near a roadside restaurant in Haryana’s Shahabad Markanda in Kurukshetra district. Using a local’s phone, the brothers called up their father in Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, who informed the police.

Police identified the accused as Harish Sharma, alias Rinku, a resident of Delhi, who has a jewellery business. The victims, Sagar (35) and Manik (31) Sharma were acquainted with the accused and had previously had business dealings with him, including in gold and diamond jewellery and werepreviously were partners with him in running two now closed call centres in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida.

“Rinku hatched the conspiracy along with his associate Gurpreet Singh Randhawa alias Chetan, who is from Punjab, and others,” said joint commissioner of police (JCP) (western range) Jatin Narwal. “While Rinku, the mastermind of the pre-planned criminal conspiracy, has been arrested, our teams are conducting raids to nab the two who impersonated police officials, and executed the entire armed abduction and robbery plan.”

A police complaint in the matter was filed by Sagar on Friday morning, said deputy commissioner of police (west) Darade Sharad Bhaskar. In it, Sagar alleged that, around 9pm on Thursday, he and Manik travelled near Metro Pillar number-167 on the Ring Road in their car, a Range Rover, to collect a payment for some gold and diamond jewellery they had given to Harish.

There, instead of Rinku, they found another person had come to deliver ₹40 lakh on his behalf. As they were making the exchange inside the car, two unidentified men, who were in plain clothes, forcibly entered the vehicle and pushed the other man out. They allegedly threatened the brothers with a gun.

“The two accused impersonated police officials, wrongfully confined the victims at gunpoint, assaulted them, and took them towards GT Karnal Road side. On the way, the two robbed the brother of ₹40 lakh cash, mobile phones, an Apple smartwatch, and jewellery items. They drove them around for nearly six hours during which they entered Haryana and finally abandoned the victims in Shahabad Markanda near Kurukshetra around 3am on Friday. The accused fled in the victims’ SUV along with the robbed items,” said DCP Bhaskar.

A case of armed abduction and robbery was registered under the relevant sections of law at the Rajouri Garden police station. During the investigation, the Rinku’s role came into focus. He was taken into custody and, during the interrogation, he confessed that he had planned the incident, said the joint CP.

“On Saturday, Rinku was arrested and his interrogation revealed that the complainant had handed over jewellery to him one day prior to the crime for valuation and sale. To cheat the complainant and retain the jewellery, a plan was devised to rob him of his own money under the guise of a fake police raid carried out in a dramatic manner,” added Narwal.