The Crime Branch of Delhi Police have arrested a member of the ‘Tatlu Gang’ who used to loot people from Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha by luring them on the pretext of selling them gold bricks of Mughal era found during excavations behind Taj Mahal. The accused, identified as Mohammad Salim Khan (25), was arrested near Rajokari flyover on Tuesday.
Khan (25) is a resident of Bharatpur, Rajasthan and was arrested following a tip-off. The police have also recovered a .315 bore pistol with two live cartridges from his possession. Information was received that Khan, the leader of ‘Tatlu Gang’ is involved in inducing and luring innocent people of Odisha, J&K and other States on phone for selling fake gold bricks/biscuits at half rates, after projecting the same as genuine gold.
“Once their victims approached them with money, the accused person and his associates would rob them at gun point. Following the information, a trap was laid at near Rajokari Flyover, NH-8 and he was apprehended,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.
Khan used to make numerous random phone calls to Odisha, J&K and other such relatively remote States of India posing himself as Rahul Sharma, an extremely poor labourer of Rajasthan engaged in digging work on different lands acquired by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) near Yamuna river behind Taj Mahal.
The accused used to lure his targets by saying that during the course of digging in the ruins near Yamuna, behind Taj Mahal in Agra. He had discovered some very ancient gold bricks of Mughal Emperor Akbar’s era and he was willing to sell the same at half rates compared to the market. Khan claims to have five such bricks, each of which is weighing approx. 800 gm.
“When the innocent victim used to come to meet him, he used to cut a minuscule part of the fake gold brick in the presence of victim and by trick of hand, he used to change the fake gold piece with an original one and handover it to the victim as a sample to get it checked,” said Yadav.
As the sample happens to be genuine, the victim becomes confident after getting it checked from a jeweller and returned to conclude the deal.
“For delivery of gold bricks, he then called the victims in Mewat region and used to loot all the money and belongings of the victims at gunpoint. In this way, the innocent persons of remote States of India, unaware about the intentions of these criminals, got looted of their hard earned money,”
said Yadav.
