Two detained in Pragati Maidan robbery; security beefed up in tunnel

A delivery agent at a private firm in Chandni Chowk and his associate were robbed inside the tunnel by six bike-borne persons Saturday.

A CCTV footage of the incident surfaced Monday, which showed three bikes with two persons each surrounding a white Maruti Swift Dzire vehicle. One of the accused steps down, goes to the driver’s seat and holds him at gunpoint, while another goes to the rear seat and picks up the bag.

A senior police officer said, “All the accused are wearing helmets so it is a task to capture their faces. We have traced the number plates…it seems to be an inside job where the accused got a tip-off about the transportation of the cash. We are questioning the employees of the firm of the complainant and analysing call detail records.” Police said the two suspects detained in Burari are being questioned. “Their involvement is being ascertained,” said an officer.

A source said, “In order to evade arrest, the accused used stolen Apache bikes and used stolen number plates from the same bike model.” Usually, criminals don’t use bike number plates from the same bike model and choose random number plates.

Police said search is on for the other accused. A senior police officer said, “We have scanned more than 300 CCTV cameras where the accused persons, all of them likely in their 20s, have been identified and were last seen in Majnu ka Tilla…they are seen fleeing towards Outer Delhi and we suspect that they have gone outside the city.”

The complainants — Patel Sajan Kumar and his friend Jigar Patel — were heading towards Gurgaon in a cab to deliver a bag full of cash to an acquaintance at a hospital when the robbery took place, said police.

DCP (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal said, “They gave a written complaint at Tilak Marg Police Station claiming that they hired an Ola cab from Lal Quila and were on their way to Gurugram, however, when they entered the tunnel, they were waylaid and robbed.”

Said a police officer: “We have strengthened security at tunnel’s entry and exit for now and will reassess the arrangement after a few days.”

Complete collapse of law and order: CM

Alleging that the law and order situation has completely collapsed in the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded the resignation of Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena, calling him “incapable to handle the situation in Delhi.”

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “If the Central government is unable to make Delhi safe, hand it over to us. We will show you how to make a city safe for its citizens.”

AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar accused L-G of bringing “Jungle Raj” to Delhi. Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said most police stations were working with 35 to 40% staff strength even as “rest of the policemen are reserved for VIPs”.