The highly-publicised theft in Holy Child school of Vasant Vihar was carried out by a gang of robbers and it was definitely not an act of ‘religious persecution’. The gang members had committed similar thefts in other private schools across the city. Delhi Police arrested five members of the gang who were involved in the incident of theft in the high-profile school. The incident, which was the sixth ‘attack’ on Christian establishments in the city in three months, had generated major controversy prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to summon Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi and order a crackdown on those involved in such incidents.
“The gang has carried out at least 30 such robberies at schools in every nook and cranny of the city. They used to strike only in the first half of the month knowing that fees are deposited in these days and cash is kept in Principal’s room,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Prem Nath. The accused have been identified as Gaurav, alias Deepak, alias Guddan (23), Sikandar, alias Machhar (21), Dharmender, alias Kali (23), Vikas, alias Chhotu, alias Chikna (21) and Pawan, alias Akash (23).
While Dharmender, Vikas and Pawan were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of South district on May 2, Gaurav and Sikandar who were lodged in jail in a case of snatching were also brought on remand and arrested. According to police, Sikandar is an expert in picking locks and can prise open a lock with the help of a handkerchief. The incident took place on the intervening night of February 12-13 this year at Holy Child Auxilium School in which doors of the room of the Principal and Accountant were broken open and cash worth Rs12,500 and a few confiscated cell phones kept in the drawer had been stolen.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to have carried out dozens of robberies in schools. They used to hire an auto and Eeco vehicle by paying extra bucks and roam around Delhi in search of a ‘good private school’ where large cash could be found. In case, school guard challenged them, they used to lock him in the guard room before committing the crime.
“They targeted private public schools where heavy fees collection is expected. They would keep their faces covered to avoid their face being captured on CCTV cameras. Their activities were even at four instances in CCTV cameras installed in four different schools during the last two months,” said Prem Nath. In a few cases, they had even damaged CCTV cameras and hard disk. They assume that is crime is committed in school, the resistance will be less in comparison to house burglaries, he said.
Initially, the investigation of the case was carried out by Vasant Vihar Police Station but later on, the investigation was transferred to Special Task Force, South District and Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to give further impetus to the investigation and close monitoring of the case.