Diamond jewellery worth Rs. 50 lakh recovered

A car service station supervisor, who allegedly formed a gang in connivance with a close friend, has been arrested in Outer Delhi along with five others in connection with cases of robbery and carjacking. Over 150 pieces of diamond jewellery worth Rs.50 lakh, a stolen car and four country-made firearms were recovered from the accused.

Praveen, 36, who lives with his parents, wife and two children in Jahangirpuri, purportedly told the police that he was unable to make ends meet on his salary of Rs.5,800. He had married off three sisters, for which he had to take loans and was under a heavy debt.

Perturbed by financial liabilities, Praveen shared his woes with his close friend Pawan, who is in the jewellery business. The duo allegedly hatched a plan to rob salesmen of a reputed jewellery brand to help Praveen.

Since Pawan was familiar with the loopholes of working with a jewellery company, he chalked out the plan. Praveen then roped in his friend Raj Kumar, 40, through whom the other accused named Manjeet, 21, Rahul, 22, Sanjay, 23, and Manish, 27. Praveen and Pawan struck a deal with the others that allowed them to keep 30 per cent of the loot.

To execute the plan, Raj Kumar, Sanjay, Rahul, Manish and Manjeet allegedly robbed a businessman of his car in neighbouring Bahadurgarh. They then joined Pawan and Praveen, but Manish left claiming he had some urgent work.

“Pawan purchased a mobile phone SIM card using forged documents and called up Mehul, a salesman working with the jewellery company, proposing a business deal. He asked the salesman to show some diamond jewellery at a wedding mall in Saraswati Vihar. Mehul and his friend Ravinder Joshi were on their way to the mall when the robbers trailed them, but could not execute their plan as the area surrounding the mall was crowded. Pawan then called up Mehul, asking him to meet him near a park. The salesman was walking towards the park when the robbers struck, beat up the duo and decamped with the jewellery,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer Delhi) B.S. Jaiswal.

Acting on a tip-off that Praveen had been spotted in Nehru Vihar, the police arrested him on Wednesday. While a part of the stolen diamond jewellery was found in his possession, at his instance, the police arrested Raj Kumar, Manjeet, Manish, Rahul and Sanjay. The police said Pawan is on the run.