New Delhi : Four members of a family – an elderly couple, their daughter-in-law, and their minor grandchild – were allegedly “held hostage”, “manhandled” and robbed of gold and cash inside their house in the upscale Golf Links area by a group of five to six men, allegedly led by the family’s recently hired domestic help, investigators aware of the matter said on Friday.
The victim family owns a liquor business and lives near Tughlaq Road. The elderly man is the chairman and managing director of the liquor firm owned by the family, according to two investigators aware of the case details, who asked not to be identified.
According to investigators cited above, the domestic help, hired “five to six days ago,” entered the house with five accomplices on Thursday evening. No arrests have been made yet.
Senior police officers said the incident appeared to be “planned.” The house help entered the house with five of his friends around 7.30-8pm. The men carried sticks and house-breaking tools to “scare” the family members, said the first officer.
“The family had hired the accused around five to six days back. He came there around 7:30pm and they opened the door for him. However, they did not know he was followed by five masked men. All the accused gained entry and then manhandled the family members. The family was then held hostage in a room and threatened to give all their jewellery,” a senior police officer said.
{{/usCountry}}“The family had hired the accused around five to six days back. He came there around 7:30pm and they opened the door for him. However, they did not know he was followed by five masked men. All the accused gained entry and then manhandled the family members. The family was then held hostage in a room and threatened to give all their jewellery,” a senior police officer said.
{{/usCountry}}Police said it took only 20-25 minutes for the accused to ransack all rooms and steal gold jewellery worth ₹25-30 lakh.
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Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma confirmed the incident and said a PCR call was received reporting the robbery at around 8pm on Thursday. He confirmed that the accused wore masks and manhandled the family before holding them hostage and robbing them.
“The main accused has been identified and he was only hired last week. No domestic staff verification was performed by the family. He and his associates managed to decamp with jewellery. We have deployed multiple teams. We have some leads and will soon catch the accused,” DCP Sharma said.
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Investigators identified the main accused by only his first name – Sushil. Police found that Sushil was hired after another domestic staffer recommended his name. That staffer is also being traced.
The robbery highlights a security lapse in the high-security area, as the residential colony is close to some of the most sensitive and high-security buildings in the country in central Delhi’s Lutyens’ Zone.
Despite heavy security, the accused managed to flee.
HT accessed two video clips from Thursday carrying timestamps of around 7:17pm and 7:30pm, showing the accused walking through the back lanes of the colony. Some had covered their faces with handkerchiefs.
Police said they have collected crucial evidence from the scene and seized CCTV footage from nearby cameras. Preliminary investigation suggests the accused had knowledge of the cash and jewellery kept in the house. A case has been lodged at Tughlaq Road police station.
HT reached out to the liquor company owner’s son, but he said the family is not ready to release a statement on the matter yet.