Recces For 2 Days, Fake Number Plates: Delhi Police Reveal How Pragati Maidan Robbery Was Carried Out
According to preliminary inquiry, the accused conducted reconnaissance on Thursday and Friday and were on the lookout.
Delhi Police announced on Tuesday that seven suspects had been detained in connection with the gunpoint robbery of a delivery man and his associate within the Pragati Maidan tunnel, news agency PTI reported. On Saturday, the accused robbed them of around Rs 2 lakh as they were travelling in a cab to Gurugram, Haryana, to deliver the money. According to preliminary inquiry, the accused conducted reconnaissance on Thursday and Friday and were on the lookout. They carried out the crime on Saturday, according to a senior police official.
The Delhi Police acquired CCTV camera footage showing four motorcycle-riding guys intercepting the car and robbing the delivery agent of Omiya Enterprises, Chandni Chowk, and his partner.
The accused have been identified as Usman Ali alias Kallu, Irfan, and Sumit alias Akash of Burari; Anuj Mishra alias Sanki of Bhalaswa Dairy; Kuldeep alias Lungad of Jahangirpuri; Pradeep alias Sonu of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh; and Amit alias Bala of Loni in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
They were following the cab and decided to halt it inside the tunnel so they could carry out the heist more successfully. According to authorities, most people do not stop in tunnels and instead drive through them at high speeds.
According to the victims, the taxi was booked from Red Fort, and as it reached the Pragati Maidan tunnel, the four guys blocked it.
According to police, the victims attempted to resist, but the accused took a bag holding the cash and fled at gunpoint.
Following the event, searches were undertaken in several locations around Delhi and Haryana, and Usman, Mishra, and Kuldeep were apprehended, according to Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav. The others were eventually apprehended, according to police.
They claimed that Usman and Pradeep were the major conspirators.
Usman had knowledge of currency flow in the Chandni Chowk region, according to police, because he had worked there as a delivery boy for an e-commerce firm for several years.
On the Saturday robbery, Yadav stated that he gave information and identified the target.
The suspects were aware that cash transactions occurred between 2 and 5 p.m. in the Chandni Chowk neighbourhood, and it was then that they began selecting their target, according to police.
According to authorities, Usman informed his friends about a Haryana number plate taxi being hired and the prospect of cash being carried.
They said that while Mishra works as a technician on contract for the Delhi Jal Board, Kuldeep is a vegetable vendor who organised for the crime to take place.
Irfan works as a barber and met the others through his cousin Usman. Sumit also works as a vegetable vendor and occasionally waits tables at events. According to investigators, he made contact with the others through a person described as Sunny.
Pradeep was held in judicial custody for eight years in a ransom case before being freed two years ago, they added.
According to police, Amit communicated with Usman through Pradeep. He met with Usman and the others two days before the event at Usman's flat in Burari to plot the heist.