Kingpin of Chandni Chowk cash thieves arrested with 1 aide
NEW DELHI: Vikas Kumar alias Omprakash loved the good life -high-end phones and gadgets, lavish parties, flying frequently for holidays, and jewellery. But, he chose the wrong means to fund his needs.
The 27-year school dropout amassed ₹5 crore in just over nine months by targeting people carrying cash from the wholesale markets of Kucha Ghasiram and Kucha Mahajani in Chandni Chowk area. Between June 2022 and last Thursday, Vikas led a gang of robbers and thieves to steal money from people who used to take cash from traders either to be deposited in banks or as payment to other businessmen.
Sagar Singh Kalsi, the deputy commissioner of police (north), said Vikas used to share the spoils of the robberies with other hardcore criminals in the Chandni Chowk area for protection from other gangs, locally as well as in jail. “He was living a lavish lifestyle and was hiding in high-end hotels in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Jalandhar while he was on the run from the police. He also spent a large part of the stolen money on throwing lavish birthday parties for his family members. We have so far recovered one Honda WRV car, one TVS NTORQ scooter and two top-end Samsung mobile phones, which he had purchased from the stolen money,” Kalsi said.
“He led his team so efficiently that in the last nine months his gang has committed over two dozen robberies and thefts, including stealing ₹40 lakh from one trader on March 1 near Red Fort, and ₹10 lakh from another near Balkhandi Mandir (near Old Delhi railway station),” he said.
Kalsi said the district police registered several cases of robbery and theft of cash from business
Accused Vikas Kumar.
men and their employees in the last nine months. He added that the police began to track a trend when such complaints started coming in frequently from Chandni Chowk area.
When the police checked CCTV footage from multiple cameras installed around the places of incident, the police spotted members of a particular gang. Based on the surveillance, the police collected inputs from its local informers who pointed to the involvement of Vikas, the DCP said.
Vikas had a police record, and the investigators found that he has been involved in many cases of theft and robbery. They also established that he was the leader of the gang, members of which were seen in CCTV footage. “We deployed police staff outside his house, but found out that he was on the run. Then, we interrogated some non-active members of his gang, who disclosed that Vikas, along with Sagar (goes by single name), will go to Kucha Ghasi Ram on Thursday for a robbery. We laid a trap and the police arrested both of them,” he said.
Assistant commissioner of police (north) Dharmendra Kumar said that Vikas told the police that he was arrested earlier in a series of theft cases in Lahori Gate, Sadar Bazar and Subzi Mandi police station areas. “He said that he recruited his gang members from Nabi Karim, Paharganj and Sadar Bazar.”