Month after jewellery worth over Rs 1 crore stolen from parked car in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, member of interstate gang arrested

Police said Kotawala allegedly kept the jewellery in a bag inside his car and stepped out briefly to attend to some urgent work at a nearby shop. When he returned, he found a window of the vehicle broken and the bag missing. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered at Karol Bagh police station under Section 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

A team of officers scanned footage from nearly 90 to 100 CCTV cameras installed in and around the crime scene and on roads leading to the area, and questioned several known offenders involved in similar cases.

Police said the investigation eventually pointed to a Trichy-based gang known for targeting vehicles parked near jewellery markets by breaking window panes. The team zeroed in on a suspect, Sarath Kumar, after gathering intelligence and tracking his movements in Delhi through technical surveillance.

A resident of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, Kumar was apprehended by a team of the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Cell of the Crime Branch on December 15 near the Nizamuddin Railway Station following a detailed investigation and technical surveillance, police said.

During questioning, police found that Sarath Kumar is a school dropout and a habitual offender, allegedly involved in at least eight criminal cases in Delhi. He has also been declared a proclaimed offender in four theft cases registered at Kamla Market, Connaught Place and Lahori Gate police stations.

Jewellery worth approximately Rs 35 lakh has been recovered so far, police said, adding that efforts are under way to trace the remaining stolen property and identify other members of the gang.