New Delhi: The North District Police has exposed the sensational robbery at gunpoint at the house of a 74-year-old elderly couple in Delhi's Roop Nagar at midnight. The miscreants had taken an elderly couple hostage and looted about Rs 10 lakh in cash and gold and silver jewelery and also took away the CCTV DVR of the house. The police searched the footage of more than 500 CCTV cameras, chased the accused for about 1000 kilometers and connected the links of this incident by conducting continuous raids in many districts of Uttar Pradesh for 13 days.
During the press conference at North District Police Headquarters, DCP Niharika Bhatt said that in this case, TIM has arrested former domestic help Saroj, her son Manoj alias Lala and Rajeev alias Ramu. Rs 2.08 lakh in cash, 250 British pounds, 160 US dollars and the scooter used in the crime have been recovered from the possession of the accused. According to the police, some of the accused involved in the crime have previously been involved in many serious cases including robbery and murder in Uttar Pradesh.
The door opened at 3 o'clock in the night and armed criminals entered the house.
According to the police, Roop Nagar resident Taresh Baisiwala (74) complained that on the intervening night of August 6-7, he woke up at around 3 am to go to the toilet. There was no water in the water tank of the house, so he reached to open the main glass door to run the water motor. Meanwhile, four armed miscreants entered the house. The miscreants took Taresh Baisiwala and his wife Archana hostage. After this, the entire house was searched and about Rs 10 lakh in cash and gold and silver jewelery was looted. While leaving, the miscreants also took away the DVR of the CCTV cameras installed in the house.
CCTV showed the escape route of the miscreants
Considering the seriousness of the matter, a joint team of Special Staff North District and Police Station Roop Nagar was formed under the direction of DCP North District Niharika Bhatt. Under the leadership of Special Staff Incharge Inspector Rohit Saraswat, the team included SI Ashok, SI Vipin, ASI Harphool, ASI Jagom, Head Constable Akash, Head Constable Devendra, Female Head Constable Renu, Constable Sachin, Constable Vicky, Constable Kuldeep, Constable Qasim, Constable Abhishek and Constable Mohit Sheoran. The second team was formed under the supervision of ACP Civil Lines Rajendra Prasad and the leadership of Inspector Ramesh Chander, SHO Police Station Roop Nagar. SI Raju Singh, Head Constable Naveen, Constable Gautam Bhati and Constable Abhishek Dahiya were included in this.
The investigation team started scanning the footage of CCTV cameras of the surrounding areas. The footage revealed the miscreants escaping on two motorcycles and a scooter. The police searched for the escape route of the accused by connecting each camera and finally the investigation reached Basai Darapur.
UP connection opened from Basai Darapur
Police came to know that the suspected accused were staying in a room in Basai Darapur. With the help of technical surveillance and informer system, police identified three suspects as Ram Khiladi resident of Mathura, Deepak resident of Firozabad and Bhim alias Cheetah resident of Mathura. According to the police, five cases of robbery, murder and theft were found registered against Ram Khiladi, while around 15 cases including robbery, murder, attempt to murder and burglary were found registered against Deepak in different police stations of Uttar Pradesh. After this, police teams conducted continuous raids in Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Aligarh, but every time the accused were found absconding by dodging the police.
Firing on police in Mathura, absconding taking advantage of darkness
On the morning of August 9, a team of special staff tried to surround Ram Khiladi near Madhavan Toll Plaza in Mathura. According to the police, to avoid arrest, the Ram player opened fire on the police team. In retaliation, the police also fired two rounds. According to the police, the bullet was likely to hit the accused's leg, but taking advantage of the darkness and heavy traffic, he fled from the spot. In this regard, a separate case was registered on the complaint of the police team at Farah police station, Mathura.
A scooty revealed the secret of 'house piercing'
During the investigation, the scooter used in the crime became the biggest clue for the police. The scooter's model and registration number series were extracted from the CCTV footage. After this, information about mobile numbers related to the traffic unit of Delhi Police was collected. During technical investigation, one contact number was found with a Ram player. The scooter was registered in the name of Navratan. Further investigation revealed that Navratan's mobile number was also linked to a woman named Saroj, who had earlier worked as a domestic help in the house of the elderly victim. Police caught Saroj late in the evening of 20th August.
Worked in the house for 15 years, knew every secret
According to the police, during interrogation, Saroj revealed that she had worked as a domestic help in the house of an elderly couple for about 15 years. About three years ago, he was fired from his job after he was caught stealing Rs 50,000 from home. According to the police, due to working in the house for such a long time, Saroj had complete knowledge of the cash, jewellery, lockers and other valuables kept in the house. She also knew that the elderly couple lived alone in the house. It is alleged that Saroj shared this complete information about the house with her son Manoj alias Lala. After this, Manoj along with his partner Navratan and others conspired to commit robbery.
The son was afraid that his elders might recognize him.
According to the police, Manoj along with his associate Rajeev alias Ramu reached the flat of Ram Khiladi's brother located in Basai Darapur. However, Manoj was afraid that the elderly couple would recognize him, so he himself did not go to commit the crime. After this, Ram Khiladi, Deepak, Bhim and Rajeev reached Roop Nagar and carried out the robbery by holding the elderly couple hostage with the force of arms. After the incident, all the accused returned to Basai Darapur and divided the looted cash among themselves. After this Ram Khiladi, Bhim and Deepak went to Mathura.
Three arrested, search for the rest continues
Police have arrested 54-year-old Saroj, 28-year-old Manoj alias Lala and 25-year-old Rajeev alias Ramu in the case. Saroj is a resident of Saboli Extension, Delhi. Manoj alias Lala is also a resident of Saboli Extension and used to work as a plastic granulator with his friend Navratan. Rajeev alias Ramu Loni is a resident of Madhuban Colony, Ghaziabad and is a plumber by profession. The police is now busy searching for the absconding accused Ram Khiladi, Deepak, Bhim and Navratan involved in the crime. Besides, it is also being investigated how many more such incidents have been committed by this gang in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. This 13-day long police action once again shows that no matter how vicious the criminal is, CCTV, technical surveillance and the continuous hard work of the police can ultimately bring him to the clutches of the law.