Six held for Rs 36-lakh robbery in Delhi; car, iPhones purchased with proceeds seized

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) The Delhi Police has arrested six men allegedly involved in the robbery of Rs 36 lakh near the Mukundpur flyover last month, an official said on Monday.

Police said more than Rs 10 lakh of the stolen amount, along with a vehicle and two iPhones purchased with the proceeds, have been recovered, he said.

"Multiple teams of the northwest district arrested Irfan (32), Nitesh (35), Aman (21), Manish alias Don (19), Prince alias Awara (19) and Arshad (23). All six have criminal history and are previously involved in cases related to murder, Arms Act, snatching and vehicle theft," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said in a statement.

According to the police, around 7.45 pm on November 28, when Roshan Lal was carrying Rs 36 lakh on a scooter for delivery to his employer at Rohini, two motorcycles intercepted him near Mukundpur flyover.

The pillion riders allegedly pushed his scooter, causing him to fall onto the road. One of the assailants then stabbed him several times on his left hand.

"Fearing further assault, Lal ran from the spot while the assailants fled with the cash bag and his scooter. He was shifted to a hospital, and an FIR was registered," the DCP said.

Teams scanned CCTV cameras installed along the Gandhi Nagar-Rohini stretch and also examined footage from the vicinity of Mukundpur flyover, tracking the movements of the suspicious motorcycles and zeroing in on possible hideouts based on intelligence inputs, the police said.

Subsequently, four suspects -- Aman, Manish, Prince and Arshad -- were apprehended during raids and their interrogation revealed details about the planning, execution and distribution of the stolen money, they added.

"The accused disclosed that the robbery was planned after Nitesh, who works as a driver in Gandhi Nagar, noticed that the complainant regularly transported large amounts of cash. He passed on this information to Irfan, who then assembled the rest of the group.

"Together, they conducted reconnaissance of the cash movement route and prepared to intercept the victim," the DCP said.

On the evening of November 28, after being informed that a significant amount was being transported, the group positioned themselves near the flyover. Once the victim arrived, they intercepted him, pushed him off the scooter and executed the robbery before fleeing in different directions, he said.

Following the disclosures, police teams conducted further raids and apprehended Irfan and Nitesh from their hideouts, the officer added.

Sharing modus operandi, police said the accused had quickly begun spending the stolen money. Using the looted amount, they purchased a Swift Dzire car and two iPhones. These items, along with cash amounting to Rs 10.4 lakh, the complainant's scooter and two motorcycles used in the robbery, were recovered during raids.

"Of the total recovered cash, Rs 1.4 lakh was seized from Aman, Rs 2 lakh and the Swift Dzire from Irfan, Rs 1 lakh from Nitesh, and Rs 6 lakh along with the two iPhones from Manish and Prince," he said.

Police said the gang members, most of them in their early 20s, were drawn to the act for quick money. At least three of them were already facing cases of murder, vehicle theft, snatching or Arms Act.

Further investigation is underway to identify the possible involvement of the accused in similar incidents across Delhi and neighbouring areas, police said, adding that efforts are on to recover the remaining amount of stolen cash and establish the trail of money spent after the crime. PTI BM BM ARB ARB