New Delhi: The case of alleged robbery of Rs 30 lakh in the capital Delhi took such a turn during investigation that surprised even the police. The young man who had declared himself a victim of miscreants, allegedly turned out to be the mastermind of the entire incident. Moti Nagar police station of Western District has exposed the alleged fake robbery conspiracy and arrested the complainant and his accomplice. Police have recovered a bag full of Rs 30 lakh in cash and the motorcycle used in the crime from the possession of the accused.
The story started with a complaint of robbery
During the press conference at Delhi Police Headquarters, Joint CP Western Range Suman Goyal said that on October 2, a PCR call was received about a robbery incident near Zakheera flyover in Moti Nagar police station. As soon as the information was received, investigating officer Sub Inspector Ankur reached the spot with the police team under the supervision of DCP Hareshwar V Swamy. There he met complainant Praveen Malhotra.
The complainant told the police that he works as a cash collector at Madan Lal Plastics located in Tikri Kalan. According to him, on October 1, he had collected cash worth about Rs 30 lakh from three different places on the instructions of his employer. He alleged that while he was returning on the motorcycle with the cash, three men riding a black motorcycle stopped him on the way. The alleged miscreants snatched the bag full of cash from him and also hurt him on his chest with a blade. Considering the seriousness of the matter, FIR number 423/2026, dated 2 October 2026, was registered in Moti Nagar police station and investigation was started under relevant sections of the Indian Justice Code.
The camera changed the whole story
Right from the beginning, the police team noticed some facts in the complainant’s story which were not matching with each other. During the investigation, the police noticed the condition of the complainant’s clothes. He was reported to have an injury on his chest, but no cut corresponding to the injury was found on his shirt. After this, the police examined the footage of CCTV cameras around the incident site and the said time. The incident described by the complainant was not confirmed in the footage. The police investigated his entire route and matched his statements with the available evidence. During interrogation, frequent contradictions allegedly emerged in his statements. This is where the police became suspicious that the story of Rs 30 lakh was much different than what was being shown.
Secret of alleged conspiracy revealed during interrogation
According to the police, during sustained interrogation, the complainant allegedly confessed that he had faked the robbery with the intention of keeping the employer’s money for himself. Investigation revealed that he had handed over the bag full of cash to his associate Praveen alias Prem near Keshavpuram metro station. After this, he allegedly hit his chest with a razor blade to make himself look injured. According to the police, to make the story look more real, he also allegedly damaged his mobile phone and threw it away near Peeragarhi Metro station.
Police raid in Bahadurgarh, Rs 30 lakh recovered
Based on the information received during the investigation, the police team raided the hideout of the accused partner in Bahadurgarh, Haryana. The police recovered Rs 30 lakh in cash and a bag containing cash from there. Along with this, the motorcycle used in the incident was also recovered. Police have arrested the complainant Praveen Malhotra, age 24, resident of Paschim Vihar, Delhi and his alleged accomplice Praveen alias Prem, age 23, resident of Bahadurgarh, Haryana in the case. According to the police, further investigation in the case is going on and other aspects related to the incident are also being investigated.
The investigation team added such links
In this entire action, the team of Moti Nagar police station investigated the statement of the complainant on the basis of technical evidence, CCTV footage, investigation and interrogation of the incident site. The contradictions revealed during the investigation revealed the layers of the story of the alleged fake loot and finally the police reached the entire amount of Rs 30 lakh. The team of Sub Inspector Ankur, Sub Inspector Amit, Head Constable Rajendra, Head Constable Satbir and Constable Naresh were involved in this action. The team carried out the operation under the direction of Moti Nagar police station SHO and ACP Punjabi Bagh, while the entire operation was monitored by Hareshwar V. Swamy, DCP, Western District.