Repeated thefts in the high-security lutyens Zone prompted the New Delhi district police to increase patrolling of the sensitive area, resulting in the arrest of a gang of burglars hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The sole motive of the gang was to target the bungalows of Members of Parliament (MPs) and take away whatever they could. They would then go back to their respective villages and sell the stolen goods at a higher price.
A team under Station House Officer of Barakhamba Road Girish Kaushik was formed and patrolling was increased, leading to the gang being busted.
On the night of April 5, the accused identified as Mohammed Rizwan, Mohammed Azad, Mohammed Akhlaq and Kalia tried to target another bungalow. “On seeing the large number of policemen on patrol, Akhlaq and Kalia fled from the spot, but Rizwan and Azad froze at the sight of the cops. We took the two accused on police remand and on their instance we arrested Deepak Kumar Yadav alias Kalia from Maharajpur in UP.
“From Rizwan and Azad, we recovered solar plates and cutters. The arrested accused admitted that they had stolen pipes, taps, solar panel wires and solar panels from the bungalows of the MPs as they felt that the value of the goods would be high,” a senior police officer told The Pioneer.
“The other criminals who are absconding have been identified as Akhlaq, Kabadi and Naushad, all of whom are from Maharajpur and who are in possession of the remaining stolen goods. We are going to arrest them soon and recover the stolen property,” he added.
The robbers had stolen solar panels and wires from Indian National Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Singh Mahra’s bungalow on Firozeshah Road on April 4.
A few days before that, they stole taps from Nationalist Congress Party MP Majid Memon’s residence and on March 26, the burglars had targeted the bungalow of another MP Ranjeet Singh and taken away his solar panels and wires.