Delhi: Cornered, police turn the tables on criminals; probe opens can of worms

NEW DELHI: A house in Shaheen Bagh of southeast Delhi was raided by Special Cell to nab two hardened criminals. When the door wasn’t opened, the cops broke it down but were taken at gunpoint by the suspects. After a dramatic scuffle, the duo, identified as Rashid and Shakeel Ahmed, were overpowered and arrested.
Their interrogation has opened a can of worms. The two men had not only raped a minor girl in Mayur Vihar last year, but in July 2018 also murdered a youth who had married Rashid’s former girlfriend while he was in jail.In September, they waylaid a businessman, Umesh Bansal, and his employee near Laxmi Nagar and snatched a bag containing Rs 15 lakh. When the victims resisted, they shot at them.

The gang had also burgled the house of famous poet Ashok Chakradhar in Sarita Vihar and decamped with cash and valuables. “Shakeel (35) is involved in 70 cases of dacoity, robbery, snatching, extortion, kidnapping, attempt to murder, assault on police, among other crimes. Rashid (28) has 26 cases against him. Shakeel had a reward of Rs 50,000 against him,” DCP (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha said.
A team led by ACP Attar Singh and inspector Shiv Kumar got a tip-off that that two criminals from Nand Nagri and Trilokpuri were planning a huge cash robbery. The informer said that they were staying in a rented accommodation near Jamia Nagar for the past two months.
After surveillance and quizzing informers, the house was identified and a watch was kept on their movements. Police came to know that Rashid would come to the house in the afternoon after which a raid was conducted. Two pistols of .32 bore and eight live cartridges were seized from them.
During questioning, the men revealed that they had committed a series of murders, rapes, snatchings and robberies in the past one year. Rashid was wanted in the case of abduction and sexual assault of a minor girl lodged at Mayur Vihar police station early in 2018. In this case, an alleged woman trafficker had been arrested, but Rashid had absconded.
Shakeel is the brother-in-law of Satya Prakash alias Satte, a notorious gangster of the yesteryears. He has not appeared for the trials going on against him in various courts. The process to declare him a proclaimed offender was underway.