Sharpshooter held after being on run for robbery-murder in Civil Lines

The police said that the accused, Mohit Chauhan, had shot a man dead after robbing him in north Delhi on May 8; a Crime Branch team arrested him from an eatery at the Bulandshahr-Aligarh highway

Delhi Police on Sunday said the Crime Branch has arrested a sharpshooter of an east Delhi-based gang in connection with a robbery-murder case reported in Civil Lines.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said Mohit Chauhan, a member of the gang, was the prime accused in the case and nabbed from the Bulandshahr-Aligarh highway while visiting a relative’s eatery.

According to the police, Chauhan and another accused on May 8 intercepted Virender Rawat at north Delhi’s Civil Lines and snatched his bag. When Mr. Rawat tried to fight back, he was shot dead.

The police investigation revealed that Chauhan was the one who fired at the victim and was on the run. It also came to light that the deceased was not carrying any large sum of cash, but only some of his belongings including contact lenses and documents.

Mr. Yadav said a team was constituted and dispatched to the eatery after receiving a tip-off. “Chauhan was apprehended after his identity was confirmed through photographs and sources,” he added.

Chauhan, a native of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, was living in Ghaziabad’s Loni and has been involved in 19 criminal cases, an officer said.

Part of syndicate

A senior Crime Branch Officer said that Chenu gang, headed by gangster Irfan Pehlwan, is notorious for looting businesspersons in old Delhi as well as other parts of the city. It is part of an inter-State syndicate led by wanted gangster Neeraj Bawana.

Chauhan told the police during interrogation that his career in crime began a few years ago after he lost money in cryptocurrency trading, the Special CP said. “He also disclosed the role of five associates in the Civil Lines case, namely Fahim, Sammu, Sehnawaz, Alam and Zayed Khan alias Thekedar.”

The police said that Zayed, who planned the robbery, and Alam had been arrested by a team of the North district and efforts are under way to nab the other accused. A case under IPC Sections 302, 394, 397 and 34, as well as Sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act is registered in the matter.

Chauhan also told the police that Fahim and Sammu were involved in a robbery of ₹16 lakh from Gulabi Bagh in December 2022.