New Delhi: An attempted robbery in the Farsh Bazaar area of Delhi’s Shahdara took an unexpected turn when two armed men on a scooty accosted a couple on the street, but ended up giving them Rs 100 as they had no money or valuables.
The 21 June incident was caught on CCTV camera. An FIR was registered the next day and the accused were arrested within 48 hours, according to the Delhi Police. The accused were drunk at the time of the incident, police sources said.
In the CCTV footage — seen by ThePrint — the robbers can be seen engaging in a conversation with the couple and handing something over to them before getting back on the scooty and leaving the scene.
Police were alerted about the incident by passersby, following which a team from the Farsh Bazar police station reached the scene. The couple told the team that the robbers, on finding that they had no jewellery on them, handed them Rs 100 and left.
“An FIR was lodged on 22 June under IPC sections for robbery and common intention along with sections of the Arms Act,” DCP (Crime) Shahdara Rohit Meena told ThePrint.
After analysing over 200 CCTV cameras, the police finally arrested the accused, Dev Verma and Harsh Rajput, from different parts of the city within 48 hours. They also recovered a country-made pistol, six live cartridges, 30 stolen mobile phones, and a scooty.
According to the police, Verma, who worked as a GST accountant at a private firm, was inspired by gangster Neeraj Bawana and was wanted by the Delhi Police for nine months. Rajput made a living out of repairing mobile phones.
With these two arrests, four other cases lodged in Shahdara and Northeast Delhi have been solved, DCP Meena said.
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The chase
To catch the accused, a team led by Inspector Dinesh Arya analysed footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras along the entry and exit routes taken by them.
The team zeroed in on Jagatpuri that matched the suspects’ route. However, according to the police, the CCTV footage at the final point was missing.
Meanwhile, further investigation revealed that the same men had committed robberies and snatchings in the Welcome area of Jagatpuri as well. The team finally caught accused Harsh Rajput from Jagatpuri.
Realising they were being hunted, the suspects attempted to evade the police, police sources told ThePrint. They were tech-savvy and well-informed, making it challenging for the investigators.
However, the team managed to trace the second accused, Dev Verma, to the Burari Sant Nagar area in North Delhi. However, because Verma had switched his phone off to avoid detection, the team conducted extensive door-to-door searches in the congested Burari area and finally nabbed him.
During the interrogation, Verma revealed that he was inspired by the life of gangster Neeraj Bawana after seeing his videos on YouTube, and was even associated with the Bawana group.
According to police, Verma resided in Shiv Kunj, Burari, while Rajput lived in West Gorakh Park, Shahdara. Rajput was also involved in two snatching cases previously, the police added.
Investigators are looking for any other associates of the accused.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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