A day after a woman, who said she is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece, was targeted by snatchers in north Delhi’s Civil Lines, police on Sunday said they arrested the two suspects in the case and recovered most of the stolen belongings.
Monika Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner of police (north district), identified the arrested men by their first names as Gaurav, alias Nonu, and Akash alias Badal. While Gaurav (21) was arrested from Sonepat, Akash (22) was arrested from outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri. “From Gaurav, we recovered the Rs 56,000 cash that was snatched from the victim, her two mobile phones and some documents,” said the DCP. “We recovered the victim’s wrist watch and the remaining stolen documents from Akash.”
Police said Gaurav was unemployed and was earlier booked on two counts of theft and one count of assault. “He had recently taken to snatching with his friend, Akash, who has no criminal past. They had a brief successful run, but we are yet to identify the other cases they were involved in,” said another investigator who didn’t want to be identified.
Gaurav was arrested from Sonepat around 6 am on Sunday from the house of his wife’s relatives, said the investigator, adding that CCTV footage collected barely 100 metres from the crime spot helped identify the two suspects.
“Gaurav had realised that he had targeted an ‘important person’ by Saturday afternoon. But he remained ignorant of the victim’s connection to the prime minister till he was arrested and brought to Delhi,” said the investigator.
Damyanti Modi, the victim in the incident, was targeted byt two motorcycle-borne outside the Shree Delhi Gujarati Samaj guesthouse in Civil Lines — one of the most secured and posh neighbourhoods in the national capital – around 7 am, immediately after she alighted from an auto-rickshaw.
Delhi Police constituted multiple teams to identify the suspects. “We checked the footage and found the two suspects riding a scooter. They were not wearing helmets. We showed their images to our informers who identified the pillion rider as Gaurav,” said the investigator.
The police then went on to search for them in at least four neighbourhoods – Nabi Karim and Sadar Bazar in central Delhi, Uttam Nagar in west Delhi and Sultanpuri in outer district before detaining many of their relatives for questioning. “The questioning of Gaurav’s relatives revealed that he had fled to Sonepat. That helped us arrest him,” said the officer.
Police said that the two suspects were not experienced snatchers. “They used a relative’s scooter for the crime. They didn’t change the number plates unlike most other snatchers. They were not wearing helmets,” said the officer. “The snatchers had followed the victim (who was in an auto-rickshaw), for nearly a kilometre before targeting her handbag — that had all her belongings — the moment she stepped out of the three-wheeler.”
“After the snatching, the duo rode to Nabi Karim where they took some drugs, and then Gaurav’s home in Sultanpuri before heading out to Uttam Nagar where his wife lives. It was there they got to know that their crime had hit headlines and that the police were behind them. They decided to part ways. Gaurav sought the help of an auto driver friend to take him to Sonepat,” said the investigator.
While searching for the duo, the police ended up apprehending a third person who was allegedly involved in a series of snatching. “Four mobile phones without any bills have been found with the suspect. Once we connect them to snatchings, we will formally arrest him,” said another investigator.
Police said Gaurav had dropped out from school and was unemployed. “He was born in Nabi Karim, but left the place soon after his father’s death a few years ago. His mother married again and he lived with her in Sadar Bazar before moving out. His drug addiction had seen most of his relatives severe ties with him,” said the officer.
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