Four held for stealing gold from west Delhi house; accused booked tickets to gamble at Goa casino

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Four men, including a jeweller, have been arrested in connection with theft of gold and cash worth around Rs 30 lakh from a house in west Delhi's Punjabi Bagh, a police official said on Tuesday.

The accused performed the heist to fund gambling at a casino and had booked their tickets to Goa for it, he said.

According to the police, the main accused, identified as Jai Prakash (32), was notorious in Jahangirpuri and has a long criminal history with 15 previous cases of robbery and house theft.

"On September 26, the Punjabi Bagh police station received a PCR call reporting a house theft," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said in a statement.

The complainant said his wife discovered that several gold and diamond ornaments were missing from their almirah.

Acting on the complaint, police registered a case and formed a dedicated investigation team.

"Over a week-long operation, the police scanned more than 1,260 CCTV cameras, tracing the suspects' movement from a CNG pump in Punjabi Bagh to the Jahangirpuri area. The team identified the prime suspect, Jai Prakash. He was apprehended," said DCP Bhaskar.

During interrogation, Prakash disclosed the names of his two accomplices, Bigan Sah (26) and Jairam Sah (45). The team conducted multiple raids and arrested them.

Further investigation revealed that a jeweller, identified as Ganesh (31), who runs a shop in Karol Bagh, had purchased part of the stolen gold. He was also taken into custody.

"We recovered 156 grams of gold jewellery valued at around Rs 20 lakh, Rs 9.96 lakh in cash, and other gold and artificial jewellery from the accused," the DCP said.

"The accused performed the heist over their gambling addiction. Jai Prakash and Bigan had planned to fly to Goa the next day to splurge the money at a casino. Their love for online games and luxury spending drove them to commit the theft," he added.

Police said Jai Prakash had 15 previous cases of theft and robbery against him, Jairam Sah had seven cases registered earlier, while Bigan and Ganesh were first-time offenders. PTI BM BM RUK RUK