NEW DELHI: Inspired by the Bollywood movie “Special 26”, a gang carried out a raid in a jewellery-making workshop in Prasad Nagar, stealing 1.1 kg of gold. One of the accused claimed to be a government servant, while another claimed to be an OSD in the public relations department of the government of Madhya Pradesh. Busting the fake police unit and fake income tax squad, Delhi Police arrested three of the five accused persons.
A complaint was filed on November 27 at Prasad Nagar police station by the owner of the jewellery-making workshop, where he stated that five unknown people, including one dressed in a Delhi Police uniform and four others in civil attire posing as income tax officials, entered his workshop, seized the mobile phones of the complainant and his workers, conducted a fraudulent search, and illicitly removed around 1.1 kg of gold from the premises. The accused persons further removed the CCTV footage before fleeing the spot.
Police identified a Brezza car near Tikona Park, BLK Hospital, and Rajendra Place metro station after a scrutiny of about 250 cameras. Additionally, a grey Urban Cruiser and a white Swift car were also seen near a petrol pump. The driver of the Swift car was seen refuelling at the petrol pump, while another individual—previously seen wearing a police uniform during the crime—was spotted in civil attire.
Police identified one of the accused as Sandeep and traced his location to Rohtak in Haryana. He was nabbed on December 2. Later, his associates were also nabbed. They have been identified as Rakesh Sharma (41), Shaminder Pal Singh (43), Lavpreet Singh (30), and Parvinder (42), all residents of Haryana, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rishi Kumar said.
Police recovered 435.03 g of stolen gold, Rs 3.97 lakh cash, three cars, five ID cards, and five lanyards with the ‘Delhi Police’ inscription.
Sandeep claimed that he is employed as an OSD in the Public Relations department of the government of Madhya Pradesh and frequently travels to Delhi. About a month earlier, his associate Parminder—who claimed to be a government employee—told him that their friend Akram, who works in Karol Bagh, had said that large-scale gold-related work is being carried out in Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, Kumar said.
Parminder suggested that, similar to the Bollywood movie “Special 26”, they could assemble a team and conduct a fake raid to seize gold. Motivated by the proposal, Sandeep and Rakesh plotted the scheme. Efforts are being made to trace co-accused Akram, Suresh, and Naveen, police added.