At the centre of at least 25 gunpoint robberies that have rocked the capital since May-end is a love story between a gang member and the kingpin’s relative.
Since the July 10 arrest of two men, Safan Abbas (23) and Chand Gaffar (22), who allegedly conducted gunpoint robberies with kingpin Burhan Ahmed (23) across Model Town, New Friends Colony, Pandav Nagar and Nizamuddin, questioning has revealed how Abbas was recruited into the gang.
According to police, the wives of Ahmed and Abbas are sisters and the families lived together on rent in North East Delhi.
“On February 10, Abbas met Ahmed’s sister-in-law and fell in love with her. In order to be close to her, he befriended Ahmed and left his job at a bakery to join the gang. The woman was married and her husband too was a part of the gang,” said a police officer investigating the case.
In March, Ahmed, Abbas and the woman’s husband Rahat were arrested for a spate of robberies they conducted in North East Delhi. “It was in prison that Abbas told Ahmed that he was in love with the woman. It was this revelation that Ahmed took advantage of as he was unhappy with Rahat. He promised to get Abbas married to the woman once they got out of prison,” said a police officer.
Just before the gang allegedly resumed committing gunpoint robberies across the capital, Rahat and his wife separated. “Abbas and the woman got married,” said a police officer.
On July 10, Abbas and Gaffar were arrested and police attributed at least 25 robberies to them. Raids are on to arrest Ahmed.
The gang came under the spotlight when they allegedly robbed a businessman at gunpoint in Model Town, in front of his wife and children who were inside the car. Days later, the men allegedly robbed a 24×7 medical store in New Friends Colony of Rs 1.2 lakh — again at gunpoint.
Police said the men usually covered their faces with a cloth or helmets.
“Footage recovered from the spots of some of the incidents was shared with police informers and one of them approached officers in the North East district. An informer identified one of the men as Abbas after seeing his face and noticing his body language. Abbas and Ahmed were captured on CCTV in Taimoor Nagar from where they stole a scooter,” said police.
Police questioning revealed that Abbas would go to Old Delhi to eat biryani and kebabs after conducting the robberies. After he married the woman, Abbas began working towards buying a new house, a task that kingpin Ahmed promised to help him with, said police.