At least four unidentified armed robbers with helmets forcibly entered the house of an elderly couple, in their 70s, in north Delhi’s Roop Nagar, assaulted and held them hostage, and decamped with nearly one kg of gold and 17 kg of silver jewellery worth around ₹2 crore, along with ₹10 lakh cash in the early hours of Friday, police said on Saturday.
The elderly couple, identified as Taresh Baisiwala and his wife Archana, suffered injuries and were admitted to Hindu Rao Hospital. Their condition is said to be stable.
A case under sections 309 (robbery) and 311 (causing death or grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Roop Nagar police station was registered, said deputy commissioner of police (north) Raja Banthia.
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Robbers target couple in midnight
Taresh, who runs a motor spare parts business in north Delhi’s Kashmere Gate and lives with his wife in their Roop Nagar house, told the police that around 2.30 am on Friday, he woke up to attend to nature’s call and went outside to switch on the water pump.
{{/usCountry}}Taresh, who runs a motor spare parts business in north Delhi’s Kashmere Gate and lives with his wife in their Roop Nagar house, told the police that around 2.30 am on Friday, he woke up to attend to nature’s call and went outside to switch on the water pump.
{{/usCountry}}“As he opened the door, four men, who were standing outside wearing helmets, pointed a pistol at him, overpowered him, and two of them went inside his bedroom and held his wife hostage by tying her with a cloth. The robbers assaulted the couple and asked them to hand over gold and silver ornaments. They ransacked the house and took away jewellery,” said a police officer probing the case.
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Robbers knew location of hidden safe
The officer said police suspect the involvement of people known to the victims’ family, as the robbers knew where the almirahs and lockers were and also about the gold and silver jewellery kept in the house.
“The safe was covered with a plywood sheet and was not visible from the outside. However, the robbers knew where the safe was. They removed the wooden sheet and asked for the locker keys. We are preparing a list of people who had access to the house, and many people are being questioned,” added the officer.