Delhi: Prison meeting with ‘super thief’ gave man idea to target Vasant Kunj homes

Meena was arrested in 2016 in connection with multiple robberies and sent to Tihar Jail, where he served a year and a half.

A graphic designer, Mehrotra had targeted homes of Delhi’s elite, including an ex-MLA and a sub-divisional magistrate. “During questioning, Meena said he used to rob homes of property dealers in areas such as Dwarka, and moved to Moti Bagh and Vasant Kunj areas after Mehrotra’s suggestion,” said a police officer.

Once Meena got out of jail in 2018, he began a car wash business in Dwarka, complete with a website. Police said his work took him to “upscale localities where he would look for houses that lay vacant during the day”.

Meena, who dropped out of school in class X, would then call his associates, and they would drive down to the house in their i10 car the next day and burgle it, said police.

For the last three months, Meena and his associates had been targeting empty homes and offices across residential blocks in Vasant Kunj and Moti Bagh. On Wednesday evening, police received a tip-off about the movement of an i10 car with suspected criminals in it, after which a trap was laid near The Grand hotel.

A senior police officer said, “One of the victims was the head of the sports injury department in Safdarjung Hospital. The men broke into the house and robbed cash and jewellery on September 23. We recovered CCTV footage from near the house and saw the same car. We alerted our teams and started looking for an i10 with similar features. After a week, we received a tip-off that the car was near Vasant Vihar, where they were looking for empty houses to target. On their way back from the recce, they were arrested,” said a senior police officer.

Meena and his associates, Satish Chander (48) and Satender Kumar (30), were first involved in a brief exchange of fire with police.

“Meena bought a gold-coloured car which he and his associates used at the time of the burglaries. They changed the number plate of the car every time. Meena told us that whenever he would spot a car similar to his, he would note the registration number and make a similar number plate to evade arrest,” said a senior officer.