74-year-old fights off armed robbers

A 74-year-old man foiled a robbery attempt by fighting back a gang of armed men, who struck at his Central Delhi residence on Wednesday afternoon.

Chander Prakash bit the hand of one robber and kicked the other in the groin after they struck at his Patel Nagar residence. “The incident took place on Wednesday when he was at home with his wife Amritlata, daughter-in-law and nephew. His son was away at the family’s electronics shop in Karol Bagh,” said a senior police officer.

Mr. Prakash’s friend Sunil Kumar had arrived to meet him minutes before the incident. As they were talking in the living room, Prakash noticed a man loitering outside the gate through a mesh.

As soon as he opened the door, the man barged inside and pointed a gun at him. The robber was swiftly followed by two more armed men.

“Mr. Kumar tried to help his friend, but the robbers held him at gunpoint while demanding all the cash and jewellery kept at home. Hearing the commotion, Amritlata emerged from the bathroom and rushed towards the kitchen on the pretext of taking off food being cooked on the stove. However, she used the opportunity to escape from the back door and raised an alarm,” said the officer.

“Encouraged by his wife’s presence of mind, Mr. Prakash bit the hand of the robber pointing a pistol at him. He then kicked in the groin the robber who was holding Sunil at gunpoint,” the officer added.

Even before the robbers could recover, their attention was drawn towards Prakash’s nephew, Jatin, who was preparing to leave home for tuition. Unaware of what was happening till then, Jatin rushed out of the house calling for help.

“The robbers first tried to catch Jatin. When they failed, they fled towards a nearby park. Some neighbours had already gathered outside the house by then, but the robbers managed to escape,” said the officer.

A case of attempt to robbery, house trespassing and wrongful restraint has been registered at the local police station and efforts to identify the accused trio are underway, the police said.