Rohini shootout: Young student spotted the burglars from his flat

THE STUDENT ALERTED HIS FATHER WHO CALLED THE POLICE. WHEN THE POLICE REACHED THERE, THE BURGLARS WERE ABOUT TO FLEE

A young student who was preparing for a medical competitive examination spotted two suspected burglars who were allegedly trying to enter an apartment building in Outer Delhi’s Rohini in the early hours of Wednesday.

The student was taking a short break from his studies in his flat in Ahinsa Vihar Apartments in Rohini around 4 am when he saw through a pigeon hole two masked men scaling the compound walls. “They had already cut the wired fencing on the wall,” he told police.

He stealthily walked into his father’s bedroom and woke his father who immediately called the police. Two policemen patrolling the area on a motorcycle and one in an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) were alerted and they rushed to the spot.

“The burglars had covered their faces with a cloth. They were carrying two backpacks which contained items used for breaking locks and cutting wires,” said Rishi Pal, DCP (Rohini).

A thorough search in the apartment finally led the policemen to the two suspects who were allegedly trying to scale the walls after realising that they were detected. When they landed on their feet on the road outside, they found themselves in front of the three policemen. Asked to stop, both of them allegedly began firing at the police team.

“One bullet whizzed past my left ear. So, I decided to fire in selfdefence. My colleague ASI Ramashray too began firing at the suspects who were around 10-15 metres away from us but well in sight,” constable Ashok Kumar told HT.

While the policemen survived the firing, one of the suspects, Nitin, was hit five times. His associate, Salman, managed to flee.

Nitin is expected to survive, thanks to blood donated by head constable Rajesh Kumar and constable Ashok who were among the three policemen involved in the encounter.

“Among other things, we have recovered a country-made pistol, a fired cartridge and some live rounds from Nitin,” said the DCP.

Nitin is a native of Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh. In his brief interaction with the police at the hospital, he has said he lives in a rented room in Rohini but wasn’t able to recollect the exact address.

“We are contacting the police in Kasganj to know about his criminal history. So far, we don’t know of his past criminal activities in Delhi,” the DCP added.

The officer insisted there was no suspicion that the shootout was genuine and not a staged encounter. “Our men are lucky to have survived after being fired at without at any warning,” he said.