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Journalism of Courage
Two days after a textile showroom owner was robbed of Rs 35 lakh at gunpoint in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, police said on Wednesday that four people have been arrested. While a former Tihar jail inmate allegedly facilitated a meeting between the main accused, investigating officers tracked the robbers using CCTV footage and social media, said police.
On Monday, when police received a call from Katra Neel in Chandni Chowk at 2.30 pm, showroom owner Vicky Jain (40) told officers that two shooters had opened fire at his shop. “Jain said that around 2 pm, two persons came to his office and fired at his office’s glass door. They robbed Rs 35 lakh in cash and fled,” a police officer said, adding that their third associate was standing outside the shop. The officer further added that they formed multiple teams to nab the accused.
CCTV footage of the incident, according to police, captured the accused heading towards Bagh Diwar Masjid in the area after the robbery. “Two accused were seen boarding an auto-rickshaw near the Old Delhi Railway Station. The auto driver was tracked down to Shahdara. After questioning him and analysing CCTV footage, it was found that the accused fled to Loni (in Ghaziabad) and then to Baghpat (in Uttar Pradesh),” DCP (North) Raja Banthia said.
After police circulated photos of the suspects around Baghpat, one of them was identified as Nikhil, a resident of the Theodi area. A second suspect was identified as Shekhar, a resident of Indira Colony in Baghpat.
“Shekhar was arrested from Indira Colony. He disclosed that his share of the loot was Rs 13 lakh, and the amount was recovered from him. With the information received from him, Nikhil was also arrested from Theodi,” DCP Banthia said.
Police recovered Rs 6.5 lakh from Nikhil. He then gave police information about the Instagram account of Tushar, another accused. Tushar’s social media account was scanned, and his location was tracked to Haryana’s Rohtak, where he was arrested.
An amount of Rs 7,80,000 was recovered from Tushar. “Based on information disclosed by him, the fourth accused, Sahil, was also arrested from Rohtak. An amount of Rs 6,50,000 was recovered from him,” the DCP added.
Tushar, police said, was lodged in Tihar till 2023 in a robbery case. Here, he met Divansh, Shekhar’s brother. Divansh then shared Shekhar’s Instagram ID with Tushar, and they got in touch, police said. Shekhar, according to police, did a recce of the area and the shop. He called Tushar to Old Delhi along with another person.
“Shekhar and Nikhil waited for the other accused outside Old Delhi Railway Station. Shekhar was on a motorcycle, overseeing the execution of the plan. Tushar and Sahil went to the showroom and committed the robbery. Then they fled to Baghpat, where they divided the loot,” Banthia said.
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