Three arrested for robbing Delhi businessmen

Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have solved a robbery of over Rs.22 lakh from Okhla area here with the arrest of three people.

A city-based businessman and his brother were attacked and robbed at gunpoint by three motorcycle-borne assailants on July 25, police said.

Ankesh Singh, 29, Iqrar Khan, 32, and Anuj Kumar, 24 were arrested on Tuesday from Tughlakabad Institutional area in south Delhi following a tip-off.

They belong to an inter-state gang hailing from Bhind-Morena in Madhya Pradesh, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said.

He said the gang members robbed Ramesh Kumar, 40, and Santosh Kumar, 35, engaged in supplying labourers on contract basis when they came out of a bank in Okhla after withdrawing Rs.22.84 lakh.

The businessmen were attacked with a heavy object before the robbers snatched away their money bag.

"The accused had also opened fire on the businessman and took away the bag containing the cash. When people residing in the area chased them, the assailants cleverly threw bundles of notes to the public to divert their attention and escaped," Yadav said.

The arrested men told police that the mastermind behind the robbery was Sudhir Parihar alias Fauji, an army deserter, who is wanted in a number of cases in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Parihar is the leader of the gang.

"There are six people in the gang of Parihar including the arrested accused. The gang would deploy two of their associates inside the banks who later passed on the information about the persons who withdrew huge amounts of cash," said the official.

Police said the gang members had conducted a recce of the bank in Okhla Industrial area and hatched a plan to rob bank customers with a large amount of money.

"Parihar had procured two stolen motorcycles along with one sophisticated pistol and one country made pistol to execute the plan," the officer said.