Armed assailants gag, rob jeweller's family

It never occurred to the Khandelwal family that assailants would hold them hostage and rob them of cash and jewellery worth lakhs inside their posh south Delhi home. HT reports.

It was the most horrific one hour of their lives.

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It never occurred to the Khandelwal family that assailants would hold them hostage and rob them of cash and jewellery worth lakhs inside their posh south Delhi home.

Four armed assailants barged into the house of Tarun Khandelwal, a jeweller and garments trader, held his family hostage and made away with jewellery and cash worth Rs. five lakh in the Safdarjung Enclave Extension area on Monday afternoon.

According to police, one of the assailants entered the house posing as the employee of a cooking gas company. The other three assailants were masked and armed with knives.

The incident occurred around 1.45 pm in Khandelwal's house, where he lives with his joint family. Varun Khandelwal, the victim's younger brother, who was at the jewellery shop in Kotla at the time of the incident said, "First, one man entered the house and said that he was there to check the gas pipeline. When my brother turned to ask his wife if she had called someone, three more men entered and took my brother hostage."

At the time of the incident Tarun Khandelwal, his wife Rashi, sister Urvashi, his parents and a domestic help was present at the house. The rest of their family was away to attend a cremation.

Police said Tarun was locked up inside the bathroom and everyone else was tied up in the drawing room.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) HGS Dhaliwal said, "We believe that the criminals had information about the family members. We are looking into the case from all angles. Local criminals might be involved in the incident and we are rounding them up."

The police have registered a case of robbery and launched a manhunt to nab criminals. Further investigations into the matter are on.