5 arrested for carrying out armed dacoity in north Delhi

Five men were arrested for allegedly carrying out a dacoity of Rs 18 lakh at a stationary shop after gagging one of the employees and holding the other at gunpoint in north Delhi's Kotwali area, police said today.

On April 3, an incident of armed dacoity took place at a stationary shop located on the first floor in the Old Lajpat Rai Market, Chandni Chowk.

There were two employees present at the shop at the time of incident. They were carrying Rs 18 lakh with them, they said.

They were waiting in the office for the directions of the owner in the evening, when a man entered the shop with a bag in his hand, police said.

When the employees questioned him, two more men came there with bags in their hands and closed the gate, they said.

They took out pistols from the bags and allegedly threatened the two employees to keep quiet. The accused tied the hands of one of the employers and put a tape on his mouth and held the other at gunpoint, police added.

They stole Rs 18 lakh, a bag containing a passbook, cheque book and a purse and escaped from the spot, they said.

Teams were formed to crack the case and police scanned the escape route o criminals and collected the CCTV footages.

During the combing of the escape route, police found a mobile phone but the SIM was found registered in a fake name.

Subsequently, they tracked down the actual owner after questioning many SIM card sellers in the area, police said.

The accused was identified as Mohsin Alam. A country-made pistol, Rs 4 lakh, a mobile, the cheque book of the complainant and a diary were recovered from him, they said.

He had thrown his cell phone so that police are not able to track him down. Subsequently, he disclosed the names of his other accomplices, who were arrested from different hideouts all over Delhi and Ghaziabad, police said.

Sarfraj Alam was arrested from Maujpur and Rs 3 lakh were recovered from him. Amaan was nabbed from Loni, Ghaziabad and Rs 3 lakh and a motorcyle used in the commission of crime was recovered from him, Jatin Narwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), said.

Kasim was nabbed from Loni, Ghaziabad and a loaded country-made pistol and Rs 3 lakh were recovered from him.

Their associate, Sachin was arrested from Loni, Ghaziabad with a loaded country-made pistol and Rs 86,500 was recovered from him, he added.