Month after 6 rob Karol Bagh store, 2 held

The suspects had used three motorcycles they stole from different parts of the city in September forthe purpose of the robbery

Nearly a month after six armed men robbed over ₹1.5 crore from a mobile accessories showroom in Karol Bagh at gunpoint, the Delhi Police arrested two suspects and recovered ₹10 lakh, even as the prime suspect and three others are still on the run with a majority of the stolen cash, police officers aware of the development said on Sunday.

According to police, the prime suspect, identified as Anil alias Sonu Matka, was involved and wanted in another robbery case that took place around five months ago in north Delhi’s Lahori Gate. (Representative image)

The suspects had used three motorcycles they stole from different parts of the city in September forthe purpose of the robbery, they said.

According to police, the prime suspect, identified as Anil alias Sonu Matka, was involved and wanted in another robbery case that took place around five months ago in north Delhi’s Lahori Gate. A cash reward of ₹50,000 was announced for information leading to his arrest in that case in which, Anil and his associates robbed lakhs of rupees, the officers said.

“We took a look at Anil’s criminal antecedents, which revealed that he is a habitual criminal who mostly targeted hawala operators in north and central Delhi. He and his gang mostly targeted people or shops with unaccounted hawala money. They knew that hawala operators rarely report such crimes as the stolen money is all unaccounted for, and involving the police might attract the attention of income tax officials and other law enforcement agencies,” said an investigator, who did not want to be named.

On the night of October 7, police said, a group of six men carrying firearms on three motorcycles arrived at a mobile accessories shop at Arya Samaj Road in Karol Bagh. They held the employees of the shop hostage at gunpoint, threatening to shoot them if they raised an alarm, and decamped with over ₹1.5 crore kept in the cash counter. Police then registered a case of dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt under sections 395 and 397 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 27 of the Arms Act against unknown persons at the Karol Bagh police station.

During the probe, the investigator said the complainant told them he had borrowed the money from various businessmen in Delhi buy property in Jaipur, Rajasthan. He said very few people were aware of the presence of the money at his shop.

“The suspects probably were not aware of that much cash in his shop. They were expecting around ₹10-15 lakh but ended up with a jackpot. Or Anil and his gang members could have been tipped off about the cash by any of the money lenders. The insider’s role will be cleared only when we nab Anil and others,” added the officer.

Police said that identities of some of the suspects were established after the investigating team scanned CCTV cameras installed on the routes they took before and after the crime. Further probe revealed that two suspects, Subhash Pehalwan and Sunny Yadav, were from Loni in Ghaziabad. Police raided their suspected hideouts but they could not be found.

“Later, we learnt that the two surrendered themselves in different cases registered against them in Ghaziabad and Noida. We took them into custody and interrogated them. Yadav’s interrogation led to the recovery of ₹10 lakh. The two claim that the remaining stolen money is with Anil and others, identified as Sanjay Gujjar, Vijay alias Ajay, and Bunty Gujjar,” added the investigator.