Seven who robbed ₹1 crore from S Delhi trader held
THE ARRESTED MEN INCLUDED FORMER AND CURRENT EMPLOYEES OF THE 75YEAROLD BUSINESSMAN
WHO WAS ROBBED
Delhi Police on Thursday arrested five people and claimed to have solved a case in which an elderly couple and their domestic help were held hostage, thrashed and robbed of cash and jewellery worth ₹1 crore in south Delhi’s Kalkaji on June 13.
Police said the arrested men included former and current employees of the 75-year-old businessman who was robbed. The police have recovered ₹8.5 lakh in cash and looted jewellery.
Romil Baaniya, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), said that on June 13, Naseeb Chand Aggarwal, owner of a showroom selling imported fabrics, informed police about a dacoity at his house and showroom. A police team reached the spot and learnt that the robbers struck when Aggarwal was at the gym. Aggarwal’s son was abroad on a holiday, while his wife and domestic help were at home.
Around 8 pm, four masked men armed with knives and pistols barged into his fourth floor house. They tied up his wife and the domestic help and held them at gunpoint.
“When Aggarwal returned home, the robbers overpowered and thrashed him as well. They threatened to kill Aggarwal and forced him to hand over the keys of the safe. The robbers took away around ₹10 lakh in cash and boxes containing gold and diamond jewellery, besides two mobile phones,” said Baaniya.
While leaving, the robbers also ransacked Aggarwal’s shop on the ground floor of the building.
The dacoity was executed in a well-planned manner and no clues were left behind. The CCTV cameras of the building were also found lying defunct.
Investigators suspected the role of somebody known to the family and examined the details of Aggarwal’s current and former employees.
The investigating team zeroed in on some former employees, who were found to be hiding in remote areas of Bihar along the Nepal border. After several raids at their hideouts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, six people — Rupesh Kumar Singh, Sonu Gupta, Mohammad Imtiyaz Khan, Ramjan Ali, Sudhir and Aaksh — were arrested with part of the valuables.
Interrogation of the arrested persons revealed that Rupesh, former employee of Aggarwal, masterminded the dacoity. Sudhir did the recce and passed on the information to other gang members.
Around the time of dacoity, he had gone on leave on the pretext of attending his brother’s marriage, police said.
After committing the dacoity, all of them fled to Patna, Bihar, where Shamsher Singh alias Chotu gave them shelter. They handed over a large part of jewellery to Singh. He also facilitated their escape to Nepal. Interrogation of the six led to Chotu’s arrest. Another accused is still at large.