Second burglary in 9 days at Patiala courts

NEW DELHI: The office of a former additional public prosecutor of the Delhi high court in the high-security Patiala House Courts Complex in Lutyens’ Zone was burgled by three unidentified men on early Tuesday morning.

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This is the second burglary reported from lawyers’ chambers in the area in the past nine days. No breakthrough has been made in both cases.

The burglars entered the premises after breaking the lock of a small entry gate. The burglars ransacked the chamber of advocate Karan Singh, former secretary and vice-president of the New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA), and stole a computer, printer and Rs 12,000 apart from some official documents and case-related files.

A senior police officer said the crime was captured by two CCTV cameras installed near chamber number 182. The three burglars came on a motorcycle. The faces of two of the three suspects were clearly visible in the footage.

Karan Singh, owner of chamber number 182, told HT that he was home when one Uttam, a security guard at the CPWD office at the Patiala House Court complex, informed him over phone at 7.49am that his chamber’s door was open and the office was ransacked.

“Uttam told me that about 6.15am, he had seen three boys on a motorcycle looking inside the court complex from the gate near the stamp vendors. Since Uttam found their activities suspicious, he confronted them. The three fled on their bike after saying that they were looking for a lawyer,” said Singh.

“Uttam found the lock of the entry gate adjacent to the UCO Bank near my chamber broken,” Singh said.

By the time Singh reached his chamber, the local police along with a crime investigation team were at the spot. On June 5, Singh said, a similar burglary had taken place at the office of Neelam Sharma, an advocate practising as notary and oath commissioner at the court complex. Her laptop and ` 1 lakh, in cash, were stolen from her chamber.

Jatin Narwal, DCP (New Delhi), could not be contacted for his comments on the incidents.