Behind Delhi crime spree, 4 petty thieves trying to ‘make it big’

NEW DELHI: Nearly five hours after committing a series of crimes in the early hours of June 8, including allegedly robbing a truck driver and shooting him dead in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh, four car-borne robbers returned to the crime scene in another car to observe the actions of the police, investigators said after arresting and questioning three suspects. Police said they are on the lookout for the fourth suspect.

They said the men, who were arrested by a police team from the northwest district’s special staff on Friday, allegedly confessed to seven crimes, including six of them within an hour, in five districts while driving 70-80 kilometres around the city on the intervening night of June 7 and 8.

“Their sole objective was to mark their entry into Delhi’s crime world. Previously, all four committed petty thefts such as stealing batteries of parked vehicles, mostly in Ghaziabad. But they were not satisfied with the crimes and the earnings, so they decided to make it big. They had bought two pistols and bullets which emboldened them. However, our team arrested them and shattered their dreams,” said DCP (northwest) Usha Rangnani, quoting the disclosures of the three suspects, identified as Rizwan, Shamshad and Nasir.

While only four crimes were reported to the police, investigators said they are now trying to identify and locate the victims in the other three crimes, which included the alleged theft of four wheels of a parked car that the suspects used to replace the old wheels of their Santro car.

The fourth suspect, Bhola, who is still absconding, drove the stolen Santro car during the crime spree. The car, which was found to be stolen from Jahangirpuri in November 2020.

They first allegedly stole four wheels of another Santro car parked in Mukundpur area and replaced their car’s wheels with them, near Azadpur vegetable market. They remained in the area till 2.15 am on June 8, eating omelettes at a roadside stall.

Around 2.30am, the four reached Singalpur village in Shalimar Bagh, where their alleged attempt to steal the battery of a parked e-rickshaw was thwarted by the wife of the vehicle owner. According to police, Rizwan allegedly fired his pistol but the bullet reportedly hit a window AC.

The four then drove towards Punjabi Bagh, another police officer who did not want to be named, said. “On the way, near Prem Bari Pul, they waylaid an autorickshaw and robbed the mobile phones of the driver and the passenger.

From Punjabi Bagh, the four drove towards central Delhi and on the way, they allegedly fired a bullet at another e-rickshaw driver when their attempt to steal the vehicle’s battery failed.

The suspects allegedly robbed their last victim, the driver of a car who was changing a flat tyre near the Moolchand flyover in south Delhi, of his cellphone at gunpoint at around 4am.

“Around 7.30 am, they arrived at the Punjabi Bagh crime scene to see what the police were doing. As the police had removed the truck and the dead truck driver from the crime spot, Bhola returned to his room while the others went to Loni. To destroy evidence, Rizwan and Nisar drove the Santro car to Baghpat and set it on fire in a village on the same day,” the officer said.

DCP Rangnani said the suspects were identified with the help of technical surveillance and human intelligence network.