New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- A man who was returning after collecting payments in north Delhi was allegedly intercepted and stabbed to death during an armed robbery after his cousin apparently tipped off the assailants about the cash movement, Delhi Police said on Tuesday.
The victim's cousin, two other accused and a juvenile have been apprehended in connection with the robbery-murder, while three others are absconding, they said.
The deceased, Prabhat, was returning with his nephew Sachin after collecting money from shops in Gandhi Nagar Market on September 24 when four armed men allegedly intercepted their e-rickshaw near the Neeli Chhatri Mandir underpass around 7.20 pm. "The assailants attempted to snatch the polythene bag containing cash. When Prabhat resisted, they attacked him, Sachin and another passenger with knives before fleeing with the cash," a senior police officer said, adding that Prabhat sustained critical stab injuries and was declared dead when taken to a hospital. The officer said a case was registered in this connection at Kashmere Gate police station on September 25.
According to police, more than 500 CCTV cameras were analysed, including around 150 cameras installed in and around the underpass and adjoining routes, along with footage from ANPR (Automatic Number-Plate Recognition) cameras. "Teams noticed a car making a sharp U-turn at high speed near the underpass and moving towards Salimgarh Fort. The vehicle had been captured from a considerable distance and poor visibility initially made identification difficult," the officer said. Further analysis of CCTV and ANPR camera footage, besides technical surveillance, helped police identify the registration number on the car. "However, verification revealed that the vehicle bearing that number was owned by one Bhagat Singh of Noida, and was different from the vehicle captured in the CCTV footage, establishing that the accused had possibly used a fake number plate.
"Teams then traced the movements of another vehicle bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration number. CCTV footage showed it approaching the underpass from the direction of the Yamuna through Loha Pul around two hours before the robbery, with five to six persons inside," she added.
Further CCTV analysis led investigators to identify the vehicle and its registered owner, Deepu Rathore, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi. Analysis of Deepu's call records led police to a mobile number that was in contact with both Deepu and the deceased.
"The mobile number was traced to Om Singh of Kanpur -- Prabhat's first cousin. Teams were subsequently sent to Kanpur, Jhansi and Etawah. Om was apprehended from Kanpur, while Deepu and a 16-year-old were apprehended from Jhansi. Another accused, Abhishek, was arrested from Etawah, where he had allegedly been hiding," the police officer said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.