Three persons including a man and his mother have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery at the home of a 74-year-old man in north Delhi's Roop Nagar, with police suspecting the woman, who had earlier worked as a domestic help in the residence, allegedly gave inputs to her son and his associates, an official said on Friday.
The arrests came following a 13-day manhunt across several Uttar Pradesh districts, with police analysing footage from more than 500 CCTV cameras to track the movement of the suspects over nearly 1,000 km, the official said.
The accused have been identified as Saroj (54), her son Manoj alias Lala (28), and Rajeev alias Ramu (25), police said. Stolen cash amounting to ₹2.08 lakh, besides foreign currency -- 250 pounds, USD 160 -- have been recovered from their possession.
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According to police, the incident took place around 3 am on August 7. The complainant reported that he had woken up to use the washroom, but found there was no water in the tank. "When he opened the main glass door to switch on the water motor, four armed men entered the house and held him and his wife hostage," the official said.
The accused allegedly ransacked the house and fled with ₹10 lakh in cash, and gold and silver jewellery. They also took away the DVR (digital video recorder) containing footage from the house's CCTV cameras.
{{/usCountry}}The accused allegedly ransacked the house and fled with ₹10 lakh in cash, and gold and silver jewellery. They also took away the DVR (digital video recorder) containing footage from the house's CCTV cameras.
{{/usCountry}}A case was registered in this connection at Roop Nagar police station and multiple teams were formed to nab the accused.
During investigation, police analysed CCTV footage from the area and found that the suspects had fled on two motorcycles and a scooter. Tracing their probable route, the team reached Basai Darapur in Delhi, where it identified a room where the accused had stayed, the official said.
Technical surveillance and local intelligence led to the identification of three suspects -- Ram Khiladi, Deepak and Bhim alias Cheta, all from Uttar Pradesh.
Police said Ram Khiladi had been named in five previous cases of robbery, murder and theft, while Deepak has been involved in 15 cases under provisions for robbery with murder and attempt to murder, in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.
"Teams conducted raids in Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Aligarh while tracking the accused," the official said.
According to the official, in the early hours of August 9, a team intercepted Ram Khiladi near Madhavan Toll Plaza in Mathura. He opened fire at the police team, and the personnel fired two rounds in retaliation. However, the accused managed to escape, taking advantage of darkness and heavy traffic.
A separate case was registered against Ram Khiladi in this connection at Farah police station in Mathura.
At the same time, police analysed registration details of the scooter seen in CCTV footage. A mobile number associated with the vehicle was found to be in contact with Ram Khiladi. Further analysis showed that the registered owner's number was also in contact with Saroj, a former domestic help at the complainant's residence.
"Saroj was apprehended on August 20 and she disclosed that she had shared details about the complainant's wealth, family and valuables with her son Manoj," the official said.
Police said Saroj had worked at the complainant's residence for around 15 years, but was shown the door around three years ago after she was allegedly caught stealing ₹50,000. During her employment, she had gained knowledge about the cash, jewellery and other valuables kept at the house, and knew that the elderly couple lived alone.
The official said Manoj and his associate Rajeev later joined hands with Navratan and his relatives Ram Khiladi, Deepak and Bhim to execute the robbery. Manoj stayed back at Basai Darapur fearing that the complainant might recognise him, while the others executed the robbery.
"After the robbery, the accused returned to Basai Darapur and divided the cash before Ram Khiladi, Bhim and Deepak left for Mathura. Manoj and Rajeev were arrested on August 20 and the recovered cash was found in their possession," the official said, adding that the scooter allegedly used in the crime has also recovered from them.
Further investigation is underway to arrest the remaining accused and recover the stolen cash and jewellery, police said.