Six men have been arrested for a violent highway robbery in Jahangir Puri that ended with the attackers fleeing with a bag containing Rs 36 lakh and the victim’s scooter on Monday. Police also recovered Rs 10.4 lakh in cash, a car, two iPhones bought with the stolen money, the victim’s scooter and two motorcycles used in the crime.
The robbery took place on November 28. Roshan Lal, a cash courier, was carrying Rs 36 lakh on his scooter for delivery to his employer. Around 7.45 pm, near Mukundpur Flyover, two motorcycles blocked his way. One of the pillion riders pushed his scooter. Lal fell to the road. Another attacker stabbed him several times on his left hand. The attackers grabbed the bag of cash and the scooter before speeding away. Lal managed to run to safety and was taken to the hospital. “It was a planned dacoity. The gang tracked the victim for days and struck when they were sure he was carrying cash,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Bhisham Singh. He added that the accused had a history of serious crimes and were desperate for quick money.
Police registered a case the next day and formed a large joint team from AATS, the Anti-Burglary Cell, and Special Staffs. Officers scanned CCTV cameras along the route. They activated local informers, and raids were carried out in Delhi and Noida.
The first breakthrough came when police caught four men: Aman, Manish alias Don, Prince alias Awara and Arshad. During questioning, they confessed to their crime, and they also led police to two iPhones bought with the stolen cash. Their statements revealed the names of two more accused, Nitesh and Irfan. Both were arrested from separate hideouts soon after.
Police said the robbery was planned by Nitesh, a driver in Gandhi Nagar. He had been observing the victim for days. He knew the victim travelled with large amounts of cash. He passed this information to Irfan. The gang then conducted a recce of the delivery route. On the day of the incident, Nitesh informed the group that the victim had picked up cash and was on his way to Rohini.
The others waited near Mukundpur Flyover and executed the attack.
During the investigation, police recovered Rs 1.4 lakh from Aman, Rs 2 lakh and a Swift Dzire from Irfan, Rs 1 lakh from Nitesh, and Rs 6 lakh from Manish and Prince. The car and the phones had been purchased with the stolen money. Police also seized two motorcycles used in the crime. Officers said most of the accused have previous criminal records. They have been involved in cases of murder, snatching, arms offences and vehicle theft.
The police have added dacoity charges to the case. Officers are now trying to recover the remaining stolen cash. They are also checking whether the group was involved in more robberies in the past.
