Man fights 2 robbers

Rajendra Khosla clung on to the robbers even after they attacked him with knives and revolver butts. While one escaped, the other was caught.

A 68-year-old man fought off two armed robbers who had held his wife hostage at their double-storey house in Outram Lanes, northwest Delhi, on Saturday.

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Rajendra Khosla clung on to the robbers even after they attacked him with knives and revolver butts. While one escaped, the other was caught.

“The robbers had caught hold of my wife. When I saw this, I rushed to her rescue. I struggled with them for nearly half-an-hour. They attacked me several times on my left hand and also hit me my head,” he said. Khosla suffered eight stitches and a deep injury on his head.

The incident was reported around 12 noon when armed assailants barged into the Khosla household. The Khoslas run a shop in Sadar Bazaar.

Khosla had just come out of his bath and was getting ready to leave for work when he heard his wife Santosh’s cries for help from the kitchen. “I wouldn’t have left them but I was bleeding profusely,” said Khosla.

Rekha Khosla, his daughter-in-law, who was on the floor above with her two children, came down on hearing the commotion. Seeing him bleeding and struggling with the two robbers, she went out and shouted for help. “Nobody came,” said Rekha. One of the robbers attacked Rekha and fled.

Meanwhile, Khosla managed to overpower the other and snatch his pistol. Some neighbours rushed to Khosla and administered first-aid to him; others beat up the assailant.

“The police reached half an hour late and said that had we informed them that armed robbers had struck, they would have reached here faster,” said Vijay Khosla, his son. The arrested accused has been identified as Sanjeev Kumar (42).

Police said the accused struck at noon as they were aware of the movements of the male members of the family. “We have arrested the accused and are checking his antecedents,” said a senior police officer.