Delhi: 5 held for armed robbery, 21 stolen gold chains recovered

Five people have been arrested for robbing a goldsmith of jewellery and cash at gunpoint in east Delhi, police said on Friday.

According to the police, 21 stolen gold chains weighing around 250 grams were recovered from the accused.

The incident took place on May 3 when the complainant, Sukumar Dhara, a goldsmith running his business in Mandawali for the past 22 years, was returning home after closing his shop.

“At around 10.30 PM, two armed assailants intercepted him and robbed his scooter containing 23 gold chains, gold pieces, Rs 3 lakh cash and his mobile phone,” a senior police officer said.

A case was registered at Preet Vihar police station and investigation was launched. Police said two teams were formed to crack the case. Since the exact spot of the robbery was not covered by CCTV cameras, investigators analysed footage from more than 600 cameras over 10 days to trace the accused.

During investigation, police tracked the movement of the accused from the crime scene and located their hideout in Jafrabad in northeast Delhi.

The police said the accused changed clothes three times, frequently switched transport modes and discarded the robbed mobile phone into a moving vehicle in an attempt to mislead investigators and evade surveillance.

“Despite the efforts to escape detection, CCTV analysis and local intelligence inputs helped police reconstruct the escape trail and apprehend all five accused from different parts of Delhi,” the officer said.

The arrested accused were identified as Vijay Kumar (30), Sunil (35), Arjun (26), Anand (21) and Harish (42). Vijay, a cab driver with involvement in 19 criminal cases, and Sunil were identified as the main conspirators.

Further investigation is underway.