Impersonation heist: Two fake traffic cops nabbed in Rs 50 lakh Delhi robbery
New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has arrested two men who impersonated traffic police personnel and robbed a Pan Bahar Pvt Ltd employee of Rs 50 lakh while he was returning after collecting a payment, an official said on Friday.
The accused were identified as Mahender (21), a resident of Alwar district in Rajasthan and Sandeep a.k.a Chetan (34), a resident of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 5 p.m on October 12 when an employee of Pan Bahar was returning to the office on Shivaji Marg, Moti Nagar, after collecting a payment from Kucha Ghasi Ram. “While the man was en route to his office, he was intercepted by two bike-borne individuals carrying a wireless set near the Salim Garh flyover on Outer Ring Road. Posing as traffic policemen, they conducted a check and managed to open the trunk of the car,” said a senior police official. Two other men also arrived on another motorcycle and seized a bag from the car’s trunk. “This bag contained Rs 50 lakh, the amount collected from Kucha Ghasi Ram,” said the official.
An FIR was registered at the IP Estate police station under sections 419, 382, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and an investigation was initiated. “Sensing the gravity and sensational nature of the crime, this team from the Crime Branch was tasked to crack the case and arrest the robbers who had covered their faces by wearing helmets. The motorcycles were also stolen. The complainant was also not able to give any clue. Therefore, the only option was to track the robbers through technical analysis,” said Special Commissioner of Police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav.
The police teams conducted technical analysis of the entire route of the victim, which helped them to zero in on the phones used by the criminals. “Raids were conducted in Delhi, UP and Rajasthan and the hideouts of the accused were traced,” said the Special CP. In one of the raids, Mahender was apprehended. At his instance, Sandeep was also apprehended from Greater Noida.
During interrogation, Mahender disclosed that Sandeep, Sagar and Harender, both residents of Noida, Uttar Pradesh were common friends. “Some days ago, Sandeep asked him to provide five SIM cards to commit the crime. On October 3, Mahender carrying five SIM cards came to Noida and gave them to his associates Harender, Sagar, Ritick and Sandeep for committing the robbery. Further, he disclosed that they all committed this robbery,” said the Special CP.
“The absconding co-accused Harender is the mastermind and is a teacher in a government aided school at Subzi Mandi, Malka Ganj Road, Delhi,” said Yadav. They recced the route of the victim from the office to the hawala market and back. They also chose the spot where they were to intercept the target. “Sandeep was wearing a traffic police uniform at the time of the crime. They used two stolen motorcycles. At his instance, traffic police uniform, helmets, four face masks with the Delhi Police logo, one black coloured mask, one handcuff, one toy wireless set, one HHMD, several big black tapes and a pair of black colour oxford pattern shoes and mobile phone have been recovered,” said the officer.
“The police uniform was procured from a shop in Kingsway Camp. The uniform helped them to stop the target vehicle. To make it look real, they also procured and carried with them a toy wireless set, HHMD, masks with Delhi Police logo,” said the official. “After committing the crime, they abandoned the motorcycles and reached their hideout. Harender took the money to an undisclosed location to be distributed later. Raids are being conducted for the absconding accused. The arrested persons have also disclosed that Harender was preparing to commit a high-profile kidnapping for ransom and the victim was to be kept in the hideout,” the official added.
–IANS
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