Man who wrote Defence Colony heist,his wife arrested in UP

Sources said Kishan,who had been evading arrest since Friday,and his wife Rashmi were arrested from Banda,Uttar Pradesh,following specific information about his hideout.

A Honda City and Rs 2 lakh in cash were recovered from them,police said. The car,sources said,was stolen from a Delhi-based businessman.

Kishan told police that the rest of the money from the loot is hidden in Delhi.

Police said Kishan masterminded the daylight robbery with his brother Deepak Sharma,who was arrested a day after the crime.

On Friday,Kishan,Deepak and two others were in a Hyundai Verna,stolen from Faridabad,and they were getting real-time information about the cash van from two accomplices — Umesh and Mukesh — who were trailing the cash van on a motorcycle.

When the van was about to leave ICICI Bank’s Hauz Khas branch with cash for bank’s Lajpat Nagar branch,Kishan and his gang stopped the Verna in front of the vehicle on the service lane near the Defence Colony petrol pump. They got down from their car,started shooting indiscriminately and drove off in the van. Guard Munna Singh died in the shooting.

The van was found in the Hauz Rani area of Khirki Extension an hour later.

Deepak was arrested on Saturday from Savitri Nagar in Malviya Nagar after police received information that he was on the way to collect the keys of the van from Kishan’s rented accommodation in Khirki Extension.

Kishan’s house at T-37,registered in his wife’s name,was their base since July. They assembled there every day with updates from Umesh and Mukesh,who tracked the movements of the cash van.

After his arrest,Deepak told police about Rs 1.5 crore of the loot,a 9-mm pistol and bullets that were kept in his house in Pushp Vihar Sector-5.

Deepak also spilled the beans on Tekchand and Krishan Kumar — relatives of Vijay Singh,another gang member. They were nabbed in Gurgaon on Sunday and booked for dishonestly receiving stolen property,as they weren’t directly involved in the heist.

Police recovered Rs 85 lakh from them.

Vijay,who was also hiding in Gurgaon,managed to escape as he got wind of the police raid on his hideout.

On Monday,police arrested Umesh and Mukesh from Taimur Nagar and Mandawali,respectively. Police recovered Rs 1.3 lakh from Umesh,a former employee of a vault management company in Hauz Khas,while Mukesh had Rs 1.35 lakh on him.

Mukesh,who was booked for a cheating case in 2008,met Hari Kishan in Tihar Jail. Kishan and Deepak have been booked for murder earlier.

Kishan told police that he and Deepak were planning to flee to London with their wives. Their sister is based there.

Blow by blow

Friday: Cash van carrying Rs 5.25 crore looted

Saturday: Deepak Sharma,Hari Kishan’s brother,arrested from Malviya Nagar; Rs 1.5 cr and weapon recovered

Sunday: Two relatives of a gang member held in Gurgaon. Rs 85 lakh recovered from them

Monday: Umesh and Mukesh,who trailed cash van,nabbed. Rs 2.65 lakh recovered from them

Wednesday: Hari Kishan and wife Rashmi arrested from Banda in Uttar Pradesh