Businessman strangled as robbery goes wrong in Chattarpur

Five men broke into a bungalow in south Delhi’s posh DLF Farms early on Thursday, drugging the guard and strangling a 38-year-old man as they ransacked the house.

Five men broke into a bungalow in south Delhi’s posh DLF Farms early on Thursday, drugging the guard and strangling a 38-year-old man as they ransacked the house.

A Delhi Police team investigating the murder of a 38-year-old businessman by a gang of robbers at a farmhouse in south Delhi's DLF Farms in Chattarpur on Thursday. (Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times)

Armed with knives, a pistol and cutters, the men put chloroform-soaked handkerchiefs to the noses of the elderly owners of the house, Kishan and Rashmi Gupta, the moment they entered the house, sources said.

But the couple — both cancer patients— pretended to be unconscious for over two hours and held their breath intermittently as the men looted the house, treating themselves to juice, fruit and meat from the fridge, they added. The Guptas told police they pretended to faint to avoid any further violence, especially to their son, 38-year-old Rohan Gupta, but in vain.

“The first thing they asked was if their son was alright but unfortunately, the men tied his limbs with rope, stuffed a cloth in his mouth and throttled him to death, after he tried to resist them and inform police,” an investigator said.

The men — Ajay Kumar (18), Vipin Kumar (22), Shivnath Sahni (20), Shyambabu (29) and Vinod Sahni (38) — could not escape and were nabbed at the exit gate of the DLF Farms when they were trying to flee.

Police said they got information of the break-in after a driver, who had come to drop his boss to an adjacent bungalow, spotted the guard lying unconscious and raised an alarm.

The driver brought the guard to his senses and found out about the ransacking.

“The driver made a PCR call and asked the guards at DLF Farms to seal all gates. One of the robbers saw the driver and knew police may arrive any moment, so they left the house in pairs,” the investigator said.

“But they were nabbed at two gates while trying to escape.” CCTV footage also caught the men trying to escape.

Sources said after collecting the loot, the men sat around and relaxed in an air-conditioned room on the ground floor and even played music. It is only after they saw the driver with the security guard that they panicked and left the house in pairs.

Police said the men first entered an adjacent bungalow and scaled the wall to reach bungalow number3. Two of them caught the security guard, posted at the main gate, from behind and the other two held a handkerchief drenched with chloroform to his nose.

After the guard fell unconscious, they dragged his body to one side and entered the kitchen area, cutting the window grilles with cutters .“They straight went to the bedroom, where the elderly couple was asleep, and put the handkerchief to their nos es ,” the investigator said.

“The couple pretended to be unconscious as the men then searched their room and took out cash and jewellery.”

Sources said the men ransacked the ground floor and collected whatever they could before proceeding to the first floor where Rohan was asleep.

They entered his room and tried to make him unconscious but he woke up and resisted. As he tried to reach out to his phone, one of them stabbed him with a knife and then throttled him to death. The men left the body on the bed and ransacked the first floor.

Police said the five men came from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and are trying to find out if they belonged to a gang.