Maid, carpenters suspect in Lajpat Nagar robbery

Police suspect that two carpenters and a maid employed by a 68-year-old woman, whose house in posh Lajpat Nagar III was robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday afternoon, could be hand-in-glove with the culprits. Karn Pratap Singh reports.

Police suspect that two carpenters and a maid employed by a 68-year-old woman, whose house in posh Lajpat Nagar III was robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday afternoon, could be hand-in-glove with the culprits.

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Police say all the three suspects were out when the robbers barged into the house of Shail Gera and held her hostage. The robbers gagged the elderly woman with tape and tied her hands and legs with rope.

However, in the meantime the maid — who works full-time at Gera's house — returned home. "Despite the fact that a stranger answered the door and told her that Gera has just stepped out to see the doctor, the maid did not raise an alarm. Instead, she went to the nearby park and waited there," said an investigating officer.

Soon, the carpenters also returned and were told by the robber to come after 5pm. "When one of the carpenters told him that Gera had asked them to bring a packet of milk from the nearby store, the robber snatched the packet from them and locked the door," the officer said.

Meanwhile, the robbers in the guise of courier delivery men ransacked Gera's house and decamped with cash and jewellery worth R5 lakh.

Police have detained the two carpenters and are questioning them. Investigators believe that either all the three suspects or the two carpenters had tipped-off the robbers about cash and jewellery in the house and the time when Gera would be alone.

Police have registered a case of robbery and are collecting CCTV footage from cameras installed in the neighbourhood.

"The victim's husband, TC Gera, is a retired engineer. He was out of town and we believe that the robbers had this information," the officer said.

Since the robbers left the door ajar, the victim managed to come out of her house and pressed the doorbell of a neighbour for help.