Five held for stealing 1 kg of gold in guise of Delhi police

Five persons, including a government servant, have been arrested for stealing over 1 kg of gold from a jewellery store in Karol Bagh by impersonating Delhi police and Income Tax officials, an official said, adding that the police have been searching for the three others who are at large.

According to the police, the accused had impersonated Delhi police and Income Tax officials to carry out a fabricated raid inside a jewellery workshop in Dev Nagar on November 27, during which over 1 kg of gold was stolen. The group also took away the CCTV DVR installed at the premises before escaping.

The first breakthrough came when police traced the location of the accused Sandeep, a 30-year-old resident of Jind currently living in Bhopal. “He was apprehended from Bahadurgarh on December 2. His interrogation led to the arrest of four others – Rakesh Sharma, 41, Shaminder Pal, 43, Lavpreet Singh, 30, and Parvinder, 42 – from Rohtak, Hisar, Hansi and Delhi respectively,” the officer said.

“After complaint, an FIR was registered and multiple teams were formed to nab the accused. Teams covered over 1,200 kilometres across Delhi, Bahadurgarh, Sonipat, Rohtak, Panipat, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Hisar and Jind. More than 250 cameras were scanned to track the movement of the suspects and the three vehicles involved – a Brezza, a Toyota Urban Cruiser and a Swift Dzire,” said the officer.

Police said CCTV footage from the vicinity showed a Brezza with a red temporary number plate, besides two other vehicles frequently seen around Rajendra Place and Karol Bagh. A man later identified as one of the accused was also spotted refuelling the Swift Dzire.

The first breakthrough came when police traced the location of accused Sandeep, a 30-year-old resident of Jind currently living in Bhopal. “He was apprehended from Bahadurgarh on December 2. His interrogation led to the arrest of four others — Rakesh Sharma, 41, Shaminder Pal, 43, Lavpreet Singh, 30, and Parvinder, 42 — from Rohtak, Hisar, Hansi and Delhi respectively,” the officer said.

Police recovered over 435 grams of stolen gold, ₹3.97 lakh in cash, three vehicles used in the crime and five ID card holders and lanyards bearing the “Delhi Police” inscription. The clothes worn during the fake raid were also seized, he said.

According to a senior officer, Mr. Sandeep confessed he posed as an OSD and was drawn into the plan by Parvinder, a government servant who allegedly masterminded the operation after learning about gold-related work in the Karol Bagh-Dev Nagar cluster.

“Inspired by the Bollywood film Special 26, the group assembled a team to stage the raid. The stolen gold was split into two portions, 500 grams each, between Sandeep and Parvinder. Sandeep later sold 428 grams and distributed part of the proceeds among the other accused,” said the officer.

According to the police, three suspects – Akram, Suresh alias Jammal, and Naveen alias Kala, remain absconding and recovery of the remaining gold is under way.