Unable to make headway in the sensational Rs8 crore heist in the Capital, Delhi Police might seek help of Mumbai Police to trace the hawala money trail which is believed to be the source of the money robbed. Delhi Police have tumbled upon Rajesh Kalra’s alleged links to bookies in london and Dubai especially after it was found that the businessman had close ties with actor Vindoo Dara Singh, who is facing charges in the Indian Premier league (IPl) Season 6 spot fixing scandal.
Kalra’s call data records revealed that he was in constant touch with people in Dubai, Jaipur, Mumbai and london, police said. A day before the robbery, Kalra had spoken on a Dubai number for over 20 minutes, police sources said. Meanwhile, senior officials of the South-East district police on Thursday questioned several people, including employees of Kalra, his manager and businessman Rakesh Kumar at Special Staff Office at Madangir.
“We have also questioned Kalra’s business partner Rahul Ahuja, but there is still no breakthrough in the case,” said a senior officer. Police suspect that among Kalra’s contacts were Chandresh Jain alias Jupiter, a Jaipur-based bookie who was arrested over the IPl spot-fixing scandal, and london-based bookie Sanjeev Chawla, whose name had emerged as the main fixer in the 2000 Hansie Cronje matchfixing case. Investigators are now checking the bank accounts in which the looted cash was supposed to have been deposited. The case may be referred to Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department once the gang behind the robbery is caught with the police saying that the victims are yet to provide a satisfactory explanation about the source of money.
Meanwhile, CCTV footage of the crime scene has revealed that the Honda City car, which was robbed by around half a dozen armed assailants, was being followed by the Hyundai Verna and WagonR. At least three of the assailants were visible in the CCTV footage, but they could not be identified. Based on the description provided by the victims and police informers, four sketches of suspects have been circulated amongst sleuths and police forces of the neighbouring States.
Police said that their main focus is to arrest the people behind the robbery as they believe that would go a long way towards answering the questions raised during the case probe. Investigators have found that the Honda City was being tailed by three other employees of Kalra in an i20 car which, however, was held up at a traffic signal. But during questioning, the responses of Sandeep, one of the occupants in the i20, were found to be contradictory and he is under the scanner in the case, police said. Tuesday’s robbery, one of the biggest in the national Capital in terms of the money involved, was carried out in a matter of minutes with the robbers fleeing with Rs7.69 crore cash in broad daylight near lajpat Nagar Metro station.
Two suspects on police radar
The Delhi Police have zeroed down on two suspects from Najafgarh and Bahadurgarh and have launched a manhunt in several areas of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. On the basis of the statements of the victim, who was robbed on January 22 in Mundka, the police have identified one Vijay who, a bag lifter operating in Outer Delhi.
The victim had told police that during his scuffle with the robbers, he heard the name of Vijay. Investigations revealed that when the accident took place on Tuesday morning, all five occupants of the car were hesitant to make a PCR call. It was only after a traffic snarl occurred and people gathered that a PCR call was made. Police sources revealed that the PCR call was made stating an accident in the area.
“The occupants did not mention about the money at all. It was much later that the occupants revealed about the money. This clearly indicates that the money has been procured through hawala route,” said the source.
Investigators also claimed that the statements of Sandeep, nephew of Ashok Doga who was in the i20 car escorting the Honda City have been found dubious from time to time and he is likely to be one of the suspects as well. In a related development it has been revealed that the four men in another WagonR had stolen an Innova from a person in North-West Delhi’s Bakoli area on January 8 when the victim was coming back from the airport after dropping a relative.
The Innova was recovered a week later from Peeragarhi. Police said the modus operandi in both cases were the same. Meanwhile, over two dozen teams of Delhi Police conducted raids in Rohtak, Panipat, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Jind, Gurgaon and various other parts of Haryana and also in Meerut.
