NEW DELHI: "Just a broken little finger of the left hand" - that was the only clue with which the Delhi Police caught a 42-year-old criminal who was allegedly involved in a brazen robbery-firing incident in central Delhi.
The robbers not only stole cash but also shot the victim’s hand.
It was September 16 when Bhushan Mandal, carrying cash of around Rs 11 lakh collected from different customers of his employer, was going to his office on his motorcycle.
At around 4:30 pm when he reached Beer Banda Bairagi Marg in the Gulabi Bagh area, he was intercepted by two persons, wearing black helmets riding a scooter.
"They tried to snatch his bag containing cash amount Rs 11 lakh but when Bhushan Mandal resisted, the pillion rider whipped out a pistol and fired upon him which injured his left-hand wrist," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Paweriya said.
Taking advantage of his injury, the accused robbed his bag and fled away after which the victim approached the police who then registered a case under relevant sections of law.
Sensing the gravity of the matter, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch following which a team was formed which began collating footage of CCTV cameras installed on the route in which both the robbers were found riding a scooter and wearing black coloured helmets to conceal their identity.
When details were checked, the two-wheeler was found reported to be stolen. Several criminals involved in similar robberies were questioned but the cops were meeting dead ends with their every move.
However, as the scanning of CCTV footage was repeated - the cops finally got one clue - a broken finger of one of the accused driving the scooter.
"This was a unique feature following which we focussed on this aspect and deployed secret informers to identify the criminals with broken little fingers," the DCP said.
Finally, on September 24, the police team working on the case got a tip-off about a person with a deformity in his finger suspected to be involved in this case in the Rohini area. A team was immediately dispatched, who then laid a trap and arrested him.
Initially, the accused denied any involvement in the crime but when he was shown the CCTV footage, the accused Dhir Singh alias Dheeraj alias Kale, broke down and confessed to his involvement in the crime.
Of his share of Rs 2.4 lakh, the accused had spent some money in repairing his car, paying his debt, treatment of teeth, and other household expenditures, apparels and lost some in gambling and drinking.