Shoot-out near Delhi’s Civil Lines; two held with guns and cartridges

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said this gang was involved in several robbery cases in north, central and north-east Delhi, and in at least 10 incidents of robbing businessmen in the past few months.

Two members of a gang which targeted businessmen carrying money in Delhi were arrested after an exchange of fire with the police early Friday morning near north Delhi’s Hindu Rao hospital, barely 2km away from the lieutenant governor’s residence, police officers said.

Two other members of the same gang were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday. (File)

They added that two other members of the same gang were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Police said they recovered four semi-automatic pistols, two countrymade pistols, four magazines, 111 live cartridges and cash from their possession.

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said this gang was involved in several robbery cases in north, central and north-east Delhi, and in at least 10 incidents of robbing businessmen in the past few months. They had been arrested in connection with several cases of murder, dacoity and robbery and planned to carry out commit similar incidents in the future, the deputy commissioner said.

Police said that on December 19, Jagatpal, an employee of Mac Forex & Holidays Private Limited collected ₹28 lakh from Kucha Ghasiram in Chandni Chowk. He and Garib Kumar, another employee, were crossing Kamla Nehru Park near MCD Chowk when two people on a motorcycle snatched their bag containing cash after threatening them with a gun. When Jagatpal and Kumar tried to chase the robbers, two men on another motorcycle stopped them, threatened them with a countrymade pistol and took away the keys of their motorcycle,” Kalsi said. The police registered a case and took up investigation, he added.

During the investigation, police found that the suspects were also involved in several robberies that were connected to Kucha Ghasiram in the past few months. “During scrutiny of similar cases in the past, it was found that the same suspects were involved in the robberies. Subsequently, dossiers on criminals, CCTV footage and technical surveillance was checked. The suspects were identified as Kamal Yadav, Vijay Tomar, Deen Bandhu and Somveer,” the DCP said.

According to tip-offs from their informers, the police came to know that the suspects were hiding in different locations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Punjab. On November 27, Kamal Yadav was arrested and a day later, Vijay Tomar was also nabbed. The two told the police about the whereabouts of Deen Bandhu and Somveer.

A team intercepted Somveer and Deen Bandhu near Hindu Rao Hospital. “When they saw the police, both of them tried to run and opened fire at them. In retaliation, police also fired two rounds at them, overpowered and apprehended them,” the DCP said.

According to police, Deen Bandhu, a resident of Bihar, murdered his school principal in 1997 when he stopped him from cheating in an exam. He was convicted and came out of jail in 2012. Somveer murdered his friend Birender Verma in 2000 when he allegedly abused Somveer’s wife. He was locked up in Tihar Jail for seven years. Kamal provided the gang with stolen bikes to be used in the robberies, and has stolen 22 motorcycles so far, police said.