Tattoo and Facebook profile help police arrest carjacker
NABBED Two accused had allegedly stolen a cab on knifepoint from Dwarka last week
NEWDELHI: Two alphabets tattooed on the hands of a deceased carjacker, three SIM cards and digging through dozens of Facebook profiles led police to solve a case of car robbery in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka. The probe ended with the arrest of the missing accused, who had fled despite being wounded, last week.
A week ago, two men stole a taxi driver’s car on knifepoint and were speeding away when they crashed into a truck in Dwarka, killing one of them, police said. The other man, who had fled the accident spot with injuries, was arrested from Gurgaon three days later.
THE IDENTIFICATION
Police said three invalid SIM cards in the possession of the deceased man was the first clue. Two alphabets, ‘A’ and ‘D’, tattooed on the hand of the deceased, was the second clue.
Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Shibesh Singh said the absconding suspect Ravinder, alias Nanhe, and his dead friend Ashish Dhanda were identified with the help of one of the three SIM cards found in Dhanda’s possession. Sleuths fed the mobile number in Facebook’s search option and scanned through over 50 profiles.
“After their mobile numbers were obtained, their call detail records were analysed. We focused on the number that had been active recently. Around 50 profiles were analysed after searching for the mobile number on Facebook. While browsing these profiles, we kept in mind the two alphabets tattooed on the dead man’s hand,” said Singh.
Investigators zeroed in on one such profile which had ‘A’ and ‘D’ as its initials. “We then checked the photo albums and found a photo that matched the deceased man. The cab driver, Chander Pal, was shown the photo and he identified him as the man who robbed his car,” said the DCP, adding that the man was identified as Ashish Dhanda.
The police then browsed through Dhanda’s friend list in Pal’s presence. Pal identified one profile as that of the absconding suspect. This was Ravinder.
“We then contacted one Satpal whose number was the last dialled on the SIM. Satpal confirmed that Dhanda and Ravinder had met him in his office a few hours before the alleged carjacking on the night of November 4,” said Singh. Satpal told police that Ravinder was at his brother’s home in Gurgaon.
RAVINDER’S ARREST
When a Delhi Police team raided his hideout, Ravinder was lying on a cot in his brother’s house and watching TV, convinced that he would never be arrested, an investigating officer said.“He had never imagined that he would be caught,” said the officer.
DCP Singh said on the day of the carjacking and the accident, Ravinder and Dhanda were heading to Gurgaon from their village in Hisar, Haryana. Before the carjacking, the two had stolen a motorcycle the same day in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh. They rode the motorcycle to Goyla Dairy in Dwarka and abandoned it after robbing the cab, said police.
Ravinder, who was driving the stolen cab, sustained multiple injuries in the accident. He abandoned the car with Dhandha still trapped inside it, and hid at an under-construction building.
“Despite being in pain, he spent the night there in the cold. Early in the morning, he went to Satpal’s office in Ghevra Mor, before leaving for his brother’s home,” the officer added.