Delhi CNG pump owner robbed: Mastermind held after shootout

Verma, however, didn’t stop. Instead, he opened fire at the police while trying to flee on his bike. The police fired back, hitting his right leg, leading to him falling off his two-wheeler.

“During questioning, Verma, the mastermind of the robbery case, admitted to orchestrating the dacoity and supplying arms to his associates. He has a documented criminal history and was previously involved in seven heinous cases of robbery and murder, and cases under the Arms Act,” DCP Goel said.

Police also arrested his three associates, Ashish, Vikash Chaudhary and Arvind.

The robbery had taken place on the night of June 23. Karan Chopra, who has multiple CNG filling stations across the NCR, was at his farmhouse when a man knocked on his door posing as a delivery boy. As soon as he opened the gate, four men shoved him aside and barged in, claiming that they had guns. They then robbed the house of jewellery and cash, before taking Chopra hostage and driving him to MG Road in Gurgaon. They fled with Rs 30 lakh cash and some jewellery, officers had said.

According to police, the total number of arrests in the case has now reached 10.

In the first batch of arrests, four people were nabbed last month — including Chopra’s current drivers Satendar Singh, 35, and Anil, 54, as well as Santosh Tripathi, 40, and Shammi, 49.  On June 30, two more people were nabbed: the key conspirator Adhesh Kumar, 38, a former driver of the businessman; and Amit Kumar, 28, police said. Rs 50,000 and a Hyundai Aura used to ferry the accused to the farmhouse were recovered from Adhesh.

Police had said Adhesh tipped off Satendar and Anil about the location of the cash.