Five members of a gang held for looting jewellery shop in Sadar Bazar

Five members of a gang allegedly involved in an armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Sadar Bazar’s Roshanpura area on September 19 were arrested by the police on

Five members of a gang allegedly involved in an armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Sadar Bazar’s Roshanpura area on September 19 were arrested by the police on Friday afternoon.

According to the police, four armed and masked men had barged into a jewellery shop and decamped with valuables worth ₹13 lakh after injuring the shopkeeper. The incident took place at around 3.25pm, when the jeweller was alone in the shop.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that two gang members had entered the shop and asked to them show them rings. The jeweller had taken out one tray and presented six rings. “One of the suspects told the owner that he was getting engaged and wanted to choose a heavy gold ring. Before they could finalise the ring, another suspect entered the shop and took the jeweller at gunpoint, after which the fourth suspect entered and jumped above the glass counter and grabbed the shopkeeper,” he said.

The police said they had recovered CCTV footage from the shop where it was seen that he was purportedly seen struggling and raising an alarm, but due to the closed glass door, the noise could not pass through.

Sangwan said the shop is located on a busy road and the suspect took advantage of the crowd. The three suspects picked three to four jewellery trays from the display counter and rushed towards the car, which was parked outside, and fled. “During questioning, it was revealed that they were hardened criminals and had murdered a man in Bilaspur in 2013 in a robbery case. There are six members in the gang and they have committed dozens of snatching, robberies and theft cases in Delhi-NCR,” he said.

The suspects were identified as Varun alias Sonu (32) of Kaithal, Mintu (24) of Nathupur in Gurugram, Harsh (19) of Badshahpur, Tony (24) of Sector 65, and Sunil Kumar (27) of Madhya Pradesh.

The police said Varun is the kingpin of the gang and was lodged in Bhondsi jail for four years for a murder in Bilaspur and is currently out on bail. He had formed the gang in 2017 and was convicted for 20 years of imprisonment by the district courts.

Sangwan said they targeted this jewellery shop as it was hardly 100 metres away from the main road and was situated on the outskirts of the Sadar market. As such, he could easily flee from the spot after committing the crime. “The car used in crime had a fake registration plate and belonged to one of the gang members who is still absconding. They were arrested based on technical surveillance,” he said.