NEW DELHI, May 26: Five youths reportedly barged into the Mukherjee Nagar house of a property dealer yesterday and took away more than Rs 35,000 and an unspecified amount of jewellery. One of the youths was later caught by the residents of Hudson Lines in Mukherjee Nagar. The other four managed to escape.The incident occurred around 11 a.m. when the property dealer, Prem Wadhwa, was away at work. His wife Neelam, who was alone at home at the time, later told the police that she answered the door bell when the youths came to the house.They reportedly asked her whether Wadhwa was at home. But before she could reply, the youths barged inside and closed the door behind them. Neelam's hands and feet were bound with a rope and a gag was tied around her mouth.While the youths were removing money and jewellery from the almirah they had broken open, a 10-year-old boy who had seen them barge into the house reported the incident to his father.The latter who is the Wadhwas' neighbour rushed outside and called out to ask the occupants of the house if everything was in order. One of the youths responded in the affirmative, but the neighbour was not satisfied.He called out once again after he heard some ``strange noises coming from inside''. Following this, the youths told Neelam to reply that nothing was wrong. They threatened her with dire consequences at knife-point if she cried for assistance, but Neelam screamed as soon as the youths removed the gag from her mouth.Her neighbours rushed towards the house and even as the youths tried to escape, they chased them. One of the youths, Naushasd, was caught and severely thrashed by the Hudson Lines residents.Naushad was handed over to the police only after Prem Wadhwa returned to his house. A knife and a coil of rope were recovered from him. The police have registered a case and are trying to trace the other youths.In another incident, a resident of Maujpur in north-east Delhi, Mubarak Ali, was allegedly robbed of Rs 80,000 by five youths last night. The Delhi police are trying to establish whether the two incidents are related.
