Suspects held for robbery ‘paraded’ with shaved heads

Officials said the suspects were made to walk nearly 800 metres between the main road and the victim’s house, ostensibly to identify the route they had taken on the night of the robbery.

Bizarre scenes unfolded in Haryana’s Palwal on Tuesday evening as four men, arrested for a late-night robbery at the home of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, were made to march on foot through an entire residential area and market of Dhaulagarh with their heads shaved in striking chequered patterns. The suspects, police said, had allegedly held the leader and his family hostage at gunpoint before fleeing with ₹50 lakh in cash and jewellery.

The four suspects seen with their heads shaved during the march on Tuesday evening. (HT)

The unusual procession -- which police described as a “crime scene reconstruction” -- quickly became a spectacle, drawing residents out of shops and homes in Dhaulagarh, many of whom recorded videos of the march. Officials said the suspects were made to walk nearly 800 metres between the main road and the victim’s house, ostensibly to identify the route they had taken on the night of the robbery.

However, officials privy to the case admitted that before the march, the heads of all four suspects were shaved in patterns to “neutralise the fear” their act had caused among locals.

Officers, however, denied this. Camp police station SHO Inspector Krishan Gopal claimed the accused had shaved their own heads “to change their appearance and avoid identification,” adding, “We caught them in the same condition as they appeared.”

The arrested men – Navin Kumar, Sachin, Ravinder alias Ravi, and Dharmender Kumar alias Monu – all in their early 20s and residents of Dhaulagarh, were nabbed within 18 hours of the robbery, which occurred between 1.30am and 3am on Monday. The four had used a toy pistol to threaten the family, police said.

Palwal superintendent of police Varun Singla said Navin, a relative and neighbour of the victim, VHP leader Om Prakash Sharma, was the mastermind. “Navin knew that Sharma kept cash and jewellery at home. He wanted to start a business and planned the robbery with his friends,” said Singla. “They had no previous criminal record. This was their first attempt.”

According to police, ₹22 lakh in cash and several pieces of gold jewellery – including a mangalsutra, two rings, a chain, a locket and nine pairs of earrings – were recovered from a room in Firozpur Rajpur village where the suspects had hidden them. The toy gun, a scooter, and a motorcycle used in the crime are yet to be found.

The victims – Om Prakash Sharma, 67, who runs two tile factories in Palwal, his wife Harwati, 62, and their son Yash, 40 – were asleep when the masked men entered their home through the terrace. The suspected had tied the hands of the victim and taped their mouths after taking them hostage at gunpoint after which they had robbed the family.