Five persons have been arrested for allegedly shooting at and looting two men on Monday in north-west Delhi’s Keshav Puram, the police said on Friday. The accused had fled with ₹44.5 lakh.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan said the accused have been identified as Saddam, Sandeep, Pawan Kumar, Ilteza and Vinay. While four of them were arrested on Thursday night, Vinay was arrested from Delhi airport on Friday evening.
Ilteza, who works at a mobile shop in Mangolpuri, had told his friend Sandeep about movement of cash by employees of a pharmaceutical company every Monday. The company’s headquarters are in Nangloi.
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Tejpal (50) and Rajkumar Bhasin (52), who work with Sanyog Enterprises Private Limited, had picked up the cash from Pitampura and were at Wazirpur flyover around 12.30 p.m. on Monday when the incident took place.
Four persons in a sedan rammed their car. The accused, who tried to pass off the robbery bid as a case of road rage, started arguing with the victims before snatching the bag containing the money. When the victims resisted, they were shot at. Tejpal and Rajkumar are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
The investigation was taken up by the district’s Special Staff and CCTV footage from the area examined. Over 200 people were questioned before the team identified the suspects.
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Tip-off
Saddam was the first person arrested. He confessed to the crime during sustained interrogation and revealed the involvement of the other accused.
“He said Ilteza tipped Sandeep off about the movement of money from a private hospital in Pitampura every Monday. The accused planned the robbery for over four months before finally executing it,” Ms. Khan said.
“Based on information received, Vinay went to Goa and then Mumbai. From Mumbai, he took a flight to Delhi on Friday. The police trailed him from Goa and caught him at the Delhi airport. The police team was on the same flight as the accused,” Ms. Khan said.
The police have recovered ₹21.5 lakh of the looted cash. “The accused spent some money on betting, gave loans to friends and splurged on hotels. We are looking at the role played by others,” Ms. Khan added.