The sighting of a chopped finger, followed by raids at more than 10 hospitals, is what helped police reach the accused after two unknown assailants attacked a 26-year-old property dealer and his family inside a moving minibus, robbed a wallet and managed to flee. On March 17, 2019, Ranjit Yadav boarded a minibus from Delhi's Janakpuri along with his brother Anil and relatives Dharmender and Mukesh. The family was on their way to Vikas Kunj when two unknown men boarded the bus. When the bus reached its destination, Ranjit found his wallet missing. He suspected the two men stole his wallet and asked the driver to frisk them. “The two accused got angry and started attacking everyone. One of them pulled out a knife and stabbed Dharmender.. During the fight, the accused lost a finger. However, he still didn't stop. He and his associate stabbed Dharmender, Anil and Mukesh before pushing everyone and jumping out of the bus,” said a senior police officer. Investigators said when they reached the spot, they found the chopped index finger and three men with stab injuries. “It was a tough case as nobody could identify the assailants. The men jumped right near the flyover from District Centre where there were no CCTVs or witnesses. However, we found that the accused accidentally cut his own finger.” added the officer. The index finger was sent to a forensic lab. “Only a small part of the finger was chopped. We rushed to the hospital to preserve it and sent it to forensics,” said another officer. The finger was tested and a fragment of a fingerprint was obtained. Police said high-end forensic tools were used to amplify the sample and get a clear record of the fingerprint. Once the fingerprint was obtained, it was checked with physical and digital records. “We have private and government-based sources where fingerprints are stored. The records were run with the Fingerprint Bureau of the Delhi Police, CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems) along with state police who are part of ZIPNet,” added the officer. Sources said that within 50 hours, the fingerprint was scanned and analysed by several agencies. The suspect was identified as Rahul (24), who is allegedly a history-sheeter involved in four cases of robbery, theft, and snatching, said police. Police could not trace him since he had been out of jail for a long time and was not in touch with his old associates and family. “We decided to check with hospitals. Our teams visited almost a dozen hospitals looking for a patient who came with a chopped finger. Soon, we found a man who was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital but had checked out by the time we reached. Several CCTVs were checked and enquiry was conducted. Our team found he was in Rohini. Teams were sent, and he was arrested,” said an officer. Police identified his associate and also arrested him on the same day from Delhi.
