AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police have solved one of the city's most sensational armed robbery cases nearly two years after a businessman was shot in broad daylight and robbed of Rs 1.51 crore in the bustling Ahmedabad City’s Manek Chowk area.
The breakthrough came after investigators linked the weapon used in the crime to a stolen pistol recovered during an unrelated theft investigation in Jamnagar, leading to the arrest of an Indian Air Force technical officer.
The accused, identified as Deepak Booker (31), originally from Haryana and who worked with the Indian Air Force in Delhi, was arrested by Ahmedabad city’s Zone-3 Local Crime Branch (LCB).
According to police, the Indian Air Force technical officer's expertise, military training and detailed understanding of surveillance systems enabled him to execute the robbery with extraordinary precision, successfully evading investigators for nearly two years.
Addressing the media, Zone-3 DCP Rupal Solanki said that on July 16, 2024, a masked man wearing a red cap entered a trader's shop in Patasani Pol in Ahmedabad's Manek Chowk area, fired at the businessman, injuring him in the leg, and escaped with Rs 1.51 crore in cash.
A case was immediately registered at Khadia Police Station, but despite extensive efforts, the investigation failed to identify the culprit for almost two years.
When Khadia Police Inspector Langaria reopened several unresolved cases and closely examined the firearm used in the robbery. Followingly, forensic analysis revealed that the pistol matched a weapon reported stolen from the residence of a retired Air Force officer in Jamnagar in 2024.
Police officials said investigators traced the firearm to Air Force officer Deepak Booker. After coordinating with Air Force authorities in Delhi and conducting a search linked to the suspect, police recovered the pistol allegedly used in the robbery along with live ammunition.
The recovery significantly strengthened the evidence connecting the accused to the high-profile crime. During interrogation, investigators discovered that Booker had served at the Air Force station in Jamnagar between 2017 and 2024.
Police also revealed that he had previously been involved in a financial dispute with a retired Air Force officer, a case in which he was sentenced to one year in prison.
According to investigators, resentment stemming from that dispute allegedly drove him to steal the officer's pistol, which was later used in the Ahmedabad robbery.
Police further disclosed that the accused had accumulated heavy debts due to an alleged gambling addiction. Financial distress, investigators believe, became the motive behind the carefully orchestrated armed robbery.
Having worked in Gujarat for several years, Booker was familiar with the commercial importance of Manek Chowk and allegedly selected the crowded business hub after detailed planning.
Investigators said the accused arrived in Ahmedabad two days before the robbery, checked into a hotel using a fake Aadhaar card and a false mobile number, and meticulously concealed his identity.
To eliminate forensic evidence, he wrapped bandages around his fingers to avoid leaving fingerprints, while his professional weapons training enabled him to carry out the shooting with precision before fleeing the scene.
Police said the accused deliberately avoided carrying or using a mobile phone during the operation, preventing investigators from tracking his movements through digital surveillance.
Instead, he repeatedly switched vehicles after the robbery, changing seven auto-rickshaws within a two-kilometre stretch before changing clothes mid-route to confuse eyewitnesses and CCTV investigators.
Investigators also found that Booker had handed his personal mobile phone to his wife before leaving for Ahmedabad, ensuring that its location remained elsewhere while he travelled undetected.
After executing the robbery, he allegedly escaped to Haryana and, whenever communication became necessary, he relied on phones belonging to other individuals instead of using his own device.
Police eventually tracked and arrested the accused from Delhi.
Officials said they have recovered the pistol used in the crime, along with other incriminating material connected to the robbery.
The arrest has brought a dramatic conclusion to one of Ahmedabad's most challenging robbery investigations, with police crediting painstaking forensic examination, ballistic analysis and persistent investigation for exposing a meticulously planned crime that had remained a mystery for nearly two years.