Haryana police have successfully busted an interstate robbery gang, arresting seven individuals including the suspected mastermind, who orchestrated the theft of gold and cash from a bullion trader's employees.
Police have arrested seven persons including the suspected mastermind in connection with the alleged robbery of gold and cash from a driver and an employee of a bullion trader in Haryana's Palwal district, an official said on Saturday.
Police have recovered Rs 17.50 lakh in cash, 138 grams of gold, two vehicles used in the crime, a motorcycle, four fake number plates, and four mobile phones from their possession.
According to police, the accused are part of an interstate gang that executed organised robberies across the national capital region, Haryana, and even Madhya Pradesh.
The alleged mastermind has been identified as Dharmbir (64) -- a former government employee who was sacked from the civil department of Ministry of Defence.
The official said, on April 2, criminals posing as officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) stopped a car owned by a bullion trader near HUDA Chowk on National Highway-10, and allegedly robbed his driver, Rajkumar, and his employee, Vijay, of 30 tolas (nearly 350 grams) of gold and Rs 31 lakh in cash.
Subsequently, the accused allegedly abducted Vijay in the car and left the spot, later dropping him off in Gurugram.
Following the complaint by bullion trader Vikas Jain, an FIR was registered under relevant sections at Palwal City police station. Four teams, which also comprised crime branch officers, were formed to investigate the matter, police said.
In a joint operation by the crime unit of Palwal police and Palwal City police station, a total of seven accused including the mastermind were arrested from various locations in Delhi and Faridabad, police said, adding that the teams scanned over 250 CCTV cameras in Palwal, Gurugram, Delhi, and surrounding areas to identify and track the suspects.
Sustained interrogation revealed that the accused were involved in several organised crimes, first conducting reconnaissance and then using fake IDs and number plates to pose as law enforcement officials to carry out robberies.
Few months ago, the gang had robbed a gutkha trader in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior of Rs 25 lakh, besides another Rs 5-lakh heist in Delhi, Palwal Superintendent of Police Nitish Agarwal said, adding that the accused are being questioning.
The alleged mastermind of the gang was identified as Dharmbir alias Sarji alias Fauji (64), a resident of Silani village in Jhajjar district, and currently residing in Faridabad.
Police also arrested clinic operator Narender Kumar alias Nitu (42), a resident of Badhani village in Jhajjar; and Delhi and Faridabad-based drivers Amit alias Bablu (39), a native of Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur, Laxman alias Kehri (36), a native of Palwal, Bijender Kumar alias Kala Pandit alias Topi (44), and Dinesh Kumar (39) -- both residents of Delhi. Deepak Samanto (44), a West Bengal native residing in Delhi, is also among arrestees.
"During investigation, it was revealed that the accused mastermind Dharambir has 26 cases registered against him in various police stations in Delhi and Haryana under serious sections of robbery, dacoity, theft, etc. He has been involved in crime since 2011, and was removed from government service.
Accused Bijendra Kumar alias Kala Pandit has 17 cases registered against him in various police stations in Delhi and Haryana under serious sections including robbery, dacoity, fraud, etc. Dinesh Kumar has 11 cases registered against him in various police stations in Delhi and Haryana while four cases each are registered against the accused Amit alias Bablu and Laxman alias Kehri. Further probe is underway", the police spokesperson said.