Ex-taekwondo champ, Indian Idol contestant Suraj Bahadur held in Delhi snatching, robbery cases

Last week, a police patrolling team in Moti Nagar saw Suraj on a scooter and found his activities “suspicious”. The policemen stopped him and found that the scooter had been stolen recently. During further checking, police found a pistol and arrested him.

Urvija Goel, DCP (West), said he confessed to having been involved in 100 cases of snatching in different parts of Delhi. He allegedly threatened a jeweller at gunpoint recently and robbed 2.5 kg of gold from him in the Sabzi Mandi area.

During questioning, Suraj said he lives in Uttam Nagar and has been arrested in similar cases in 2014, 2017 and 2019, but got out on bail each time and got back to the life of crime.

“He and his gang members have been caught several times but after getting bail, he again joins a local gang and starts committing crimes. He had also procured a pistol and was using it to threaten people to steal expensive items,” said an officer.

Suraj is a graduate of Delhi University and holds a diploma in computer engineering. He won two gold medals in taekwondo in 2012-13. In 2008, he had participated in Indian Idol where he was among the top 50 contestants.

“He told us he left sports and singing as he couldn’t earn much and decided to commit crimes. He loves branded clothes and expensive cars. He wanted to buy these things for himself and joined local gangs,” said the officer.