A 26-year-old man who is national level ‘taekwondo gold medalist’ has been arrested by the Delhi Police for his involvement in 30 cases of snatching and robbery. Police have also recovered one country made pistol with one cartridge, two high end mobile phones and a stolen bike from the possession of the accused.

The accused have been identified as Suraj alias Fighter, a resident of Delhi’s Uttam Nagar area.

According to Monika Bharadwaj, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), West district, on August 5, a complaint was received in which the complainant reported that while she was talking on her mobile phone near Sanatan Dharam Mandir, Vikas Puri, suddenly two persons came on bike and snatched away her mobile phone.

“A case under section 356/379/34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Vikas Puri police station and investigation was taken up,” said the DCP.

“During investigation, police team checked all CCTV footages nearby the place of incident. The photographs and CCTV footage of suspect led to the arrest of one of the suspects as Rahul. He was then arrested in this case who during interrogation had disclosed the name of his other associate Suraj alias Fighter, an active Bad Character of Ranhola police station,” said the DCP.

“On August 21, specific inputs were received regarding Suraj following which a trap was laid and he was arrested from Fish Market in Vikaspuri,” said the DCP.

“During interrogation, the accused Suraj disclosed about his numerous other involvements in theft and snatching of several mobile phones, which are being verified. So far he has been found previously involved in more than 40 criminal cases,” said the DCP.

“Suraj told police that he has been recently released from Tihar Jail. After coming out from jail, he again indulged in criminal activities and started mobile snatching in odd hours in order to conceal his identity,” said the DCP adding that further investigation is going on.