The sensational Rs7.69 crore heist in the city on Tuesday morning is a reminder of the infamous Defence Colony heist in 2012. Though the crime involved a much bigger amount, this time the modus operandi was not much different. However, the police did not find it difficult to crack the case despite not having any CCTV footage of the incident.
In Defence Colony robbery, a mobile phone of one of the victims was left in the cash van that helped investigators trace the location of the accused and they were the members of a South Delhi-based gang and police knew one of the accused that led the arrest of robbers.
The daring robbery had occurred on September 28, 2012 in Defence Colony where the armed assailants in a Hyundai Verna car first intercepted the Maruti Eeco van carrying cash, dragged out four men in the vehicle at gunpoint and shot at one of the two security guards who resisted them. The robbers left their car bearing Haryana registration number — HR 26 AQ 0051 at the spot and escaped in a Maruti Eeco cash van.
Investigators came to know that one of the victims had left his cell phone in the cash van and it was the first breaking lead for the investigators. “With the help of technical surveillance, police traced the phone location of the missing cell phone and found the mobile location in Khirki Extension. Within some hours, police had recovered the abandoned cash van in Khirki village adjoining Hauz Rani area of Malviya Nagar, a few kilometres from the spot,” a senior police officer said. Police said after recovering the cash van in Khirki Extension, one of the investigators called the notorious robber of South Delhi but he disconnected the call and switched off his phone. Police later conducted a raid at the house of one of the accused persons Hari Kishan and found keys to the cash van.