With the arrest of two persons, the Delhi Police recovered a gold dagger stolen from the Nehru Memorial Museum and library in the Capital earlier this week. The accused persons, one of them a cleaning staff members, were identified as Ram Chander (32) and Sandeep Kumar (30.)
The burglary took place on April 25 when the duo stole a gold dagger, a precious heritage treasure, that was gifted to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehry by Saudi King. The dagger was stolen by breaking the display of the showcase after the duo broke open the door of the first floor of the building where it was kept.
“The Delhi Police received a compaint on April 25 informing about the theft of the said dagger from the museum following which a case was registered in Chanakyapuri police station,” said Joint Commissioner (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.
“The team of Crime Branch visited the museum and examined the scene minutely…The burglary took place on Monday when the museum was closed for being weekly off. Apparently, there was very less probability of any outsider/tourist involved in the crime,” said Joint CP adding, “The team recreated the scene of crime and it was found that the left side pane of the door was broken by the accused to open the latch from inside of the door.” Minutely studying the breakage of the glass, police found out that a left-hander broke it open as the impact on the wooden frame was runnig from left to right.
“Before zeroing on at the accused-duo, hundred persons indulged in different type of works including repairing, POP work along with the staff of the museum including security guards, housekeeping staff and other employees were questioned at length,” stated Joint CP. “While Ram Chander was being questioned, it was found out that he was ambidextrous and also his statements were suspicious,” added Joint CP. later Chander broke down and confessed his crime.
Chander revealed that with the help of Sandeep, he committed the crime…While Sandeep guarded the floor; he broke open the door and stole the dagger. “On instance of Chander, Sandeep was later arrested from the house of his aunt and the dagger was also recovered from his possession”, the Joint CP added. The duo revealed that they were in dire need of money and as they thought the dagger could be sold for hefty amount, they conspired to steal it.
While Chander worked in Museum since 2008, Sandeep started his work in the museum in 2010. A case was registered in Chankyapuri police station and further investigation is underway