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Delhi: Five burglars who made manhole a home held

Every time they would steal something — laptops, phones and branded watches — the accused would take the loot to the confines of the 20x18 ft room at the bottom of the manhole.

The entrance to the manhole that is 10 metres deep. (Express photo)

The house was in plain sight, yet police had a hard time finding it. Its five occupants, wanted in a string of burglaries in central Delhi, had managed to land themselves an accommodation in posh Patel Nagar. Except, the house they spent winters in was in fact located at the bottom of a manhole 10 metres deep.

Every time they would steal something — laptops, phones and branded watches — the accused would take the loot to the confines of the 20×18 ft room at the bottom of the manhole. Debris was scattered on the floor, there was no electricity and no ventilation, and the only way out was up — but that didn’t bother the five occupants, who used a cozy double-bed mattress with red rose patterns and a white blanket with stripes to make themselves comfortable.

For more than six months, the five burglars targeted posh colonies. Even as police would look for them in slum clusters, bus stands and busy markets, the five would be safe inside the manhole. The five — Suraj, Ajay Patwa, Aslam, Jai Prakash and Rajender — were eventually arrested by an eight-men police team led by ACP (Patel Nagar) Rohit Rajbir Singh. While cracking down on daylight robberies, the team caught Suraj stealing an iPhone.

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The Delhi Police has written to the MCD to figure out how the manhole was left open for such a long time. “It looks like a decade-old manhole. From the looks of it, the set-up seems like a resting point for labourers involved in the construction work of the sewer system,” said a police officer. “When Suraj was questioned, he gave away the involvement of other gang members. This gang would strike in broad daylight. They would walk into houses when the door was left ajar due to the heat, and brazenly steal and flee,” said a senior police officer.

Two constables and an SI rank officer escorted Suraj to Patel Nagar area as he promised to show them his home. The police team had been deliberating on strategies to enter a slum, thinking they must live there. They couldn’t be more wrong. The police team initially did not enter the manhole and asked the accused about the depth, before deliberating and taking the plunge. The other accused were fast asleep, the stolen items scattered around them.

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They were roused from slumber, and with no exit, they quickly surrendered. “They were all vagabonds living inside the manhole. They grew tired of staying in a homeless shelter due to overcrowding,” the officer said. The men had found the open manhole while fleeing a house they had burgled. They came the next day and decided to explore what’s inside, before deciding on it as a potential hideout — and home.

First uploaded on: 24-05-2018 at 01:48 IST
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