Gun robbed from Union minister’s staffer recovered

A gang that had earlier this year robbed the licensed revolver belonging to the personal staffer of a Union minister has been busted and their involvement in dozens of robberies in east Delhi established, police said on Thursday.

Notorious as ‘Pasonda Gang’, these men have allegedly been involved in 42 registered crimes, mostly robberies, in 2017 alone. The most sensational of these cases was the revolver robbery in Seemapuri on January 22.

The complainant in the case works as a parliamentary assistant to a Union minister. He was attending a wedding in Seemapuri on January 22 night, when he decided to step out of the venue to have a cigarette.

He was approached by two motorcycle-borne men, who sought his help in seeking directions to an address. As the man began directing them, the pillion rider allegedly pointed a pistol at him and relieved him of the gold jewellery he was wearing. “Not convinced that they had robbed him of all valuables, one man then frisked him and found the .22 bore revolver,” said a senior police officer.

While investigating the crime, police realised that the same modus operandi was used in several robberies in the area over the recent months.

A team tasked with cracking down on this gang made the first breakthrough early last month with the arrest of Nadeem, an alleged member of the gang.

His revelations led to arrests of three other men over the subsequent weeks. But Shahdab, the suspect believed to be carrying the robbed revolver, continued to be on the run until police tracked him down to his village in Uttar Pradesh. The robbed weapon and several jewellery items were recovered from him..