Two young men who allegedly shot a software engineer before robbing him of his car in Saraswati Vihar here in the early hours of November 22 have been arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. A hunt has been launched for the other gang members.
Prateek Trikha was shot and robbed of his vehicle by some motorcycle-borne criminals near his residence in Pitampura. The robbers took away his vehicle and mobile phone. Prateek’s father rushed him to Maharaja Agrasen Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ashok Chand, Head Constable Amit was the first to receive information about suspected role of some criminals active in the area. The police mounted surveillance and finally arrested two of the accused, Neeraj (21) and Krishna Moorti (23), in Vijay Vihar.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they along with Shrikant, Rajender Prasad and Raja assembled at Shakurpur on November 21 and allegedly planned to commit a robbery. Shrikant was then carrying a firearm, the police said.
The accused were driving around in three motorcycles, looking for a target. Spotting Prateek standing near his Honda City car at Pitampura smoking a cigarette, they decided to rob him of his vehicle. They allegedly tried to snatch the car’s keys from him. When Prateek refused to give the keys, Shrikant allegedly shot him. Krishna Moorti, who was riding a stolen motorcycle, abandoned it at the spot before fleeing. Shrikant, Rajender Prasad and Raja drove off in Prateek’s car. Shrikant then instructed Krishna Moorti to park his motorcycle at his sister’s residence in Rohini.
According to the police, the motorcycle found abandoned at the spot had been stolen from Rani Bagh a couple of days earlier before it was used to commit robbery and murder.
The police claim to have recovered two of the motorcycles used by the criminals as a get-away. They have recovered from them an ATM card, a driving licence and some other documents belonging to Prateek.
The victim’s car and mobile phone is suspected to be in the possession of Shrikant and Rajender Prasad. Krishna Moorti was previously involved in 18 cases of murder, robbery, burglary, narcotics and under the Arms Act. Neeraj is involved in cases of robbery and under the Arms Act, according to police records.
“Rewards of Rs.25,000 per head have been announced for the arrest of Shrikant and Rajinder Prasad, and Rs.10,000 for Raja,” said the Police.
