Suspended Military Engineering Services employee among 3 held for burglaries at Army officers' homes in Delhi

Three men, including a suspended Military Engineering Services (MES) employee, have been arrested for allegedly carrying out burglaries at the residences of Army officers in Delhi's Cantonment area, police said today.

One of the accused, Dharambir (54), used to used to work as a Fitter General Mechanic, but had been suspended in 2011. He used to facilitate entry of his associates in the Cantonment area in his car by showing his government ID card of MES (Military Engineering Services) at sentry posts, they added.

With the arrest of Dharambir and his associates Deepak alias Prasanjeet (30) and Dheeraj alias Pawan (22), police claimed to have worked out five cases of burglary.

On February 27, the gang burgled the houses of an Army officer and a Naval officer. They stole Rs 15,000 from the house of the Army officer and stole cameras and branded shoes among other items from the house of the Naval officer, said Bhisham Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).

On December 23, they stole jewellery from an Army officer's residence. On February 2, the accused stole jewellery worth Rs seven lakh from the house of an Army officer. The gang fled with Led TV, laptop and utensils worth several lakhs of rupees from the bungalow of an Army Officer posted in Doklam.

Keeping in view the recent incidents of daylight burglaries in residences of senior Army officers in Cantonment area, the Military Intelligence (MI), after conducting preliminary investigations, approached the Crime Branch for a joint operation, said the officer.

A joint team of officers of the Military Intelligence and the Crime Branch analysed all the incidents and made efforts to identify the accused.

The accused were nabbed on the intervening night of March 18 and 19 from Sector-1, Dwarka area, while they were going to dispose of the stolen articles.

An officer said that since Dharambir was not dismissed from service, he still had his identity card. He had joined MES in 1988 and was first arrested in 1995 when he picked up a fight with an Army Captain.

He was arrested in 2009 in a robbery case and was lodged in jail. Upon release, he started carrying out burglaries at the residences of Army officers and remained involved in about 18 cases of burglaries, among others, the officer said.