New Delhi: Delhi police recovered jewellery worth Rs I crore from four members of a notorious family of thieves on Sunday.
The accused, locally known as "chor parivar', were identified as Amar alias Patti (prime accused), Laxmi alias Dabhi (Amar's sister), Sobha (Amar's wife) and Vishnu (Laxmi's brother-in-law).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Shweta Chauhan, said a PCR call was received on September 13 regarding jewellery theft.
The complainant had said that he works at Sheetal Jewellery House and on September 13 he got into an e-rickshaw from Azad Market to Karol Bagh. At that time, two ladies and one child were sitting in the back seat of the e-rickshaw while two men, including the driver, were sitting in the front.
"After travelling some distance, the man sitting next to the driver changed his seat and sat next to the complainant in the back. In the meantime, one of the ladies opened the zip of the complainant's bag and took three pairs of gold bangles from it," the DCP said.
During the course of the investigation, the police questioned the other employees of the showroom to rule out the possibility of any internal involvement.
"The accused persons did not use any mobile phone during the entire incident which made it difficult for the police to trace them," the official said.
However, while scanning CCTV footage, the police found that the e-rickshaw used in the crime had a designer sticker -- 'Maurya e-rickshaw' -- which helped the police established that the accused persons belonged to the Sultanpuri area.
"From local inquiry it was found that the family was famous in the area as 'chor parivar' as all the family members were involved in committing theft and other criminal activities," Chauhan said.
The police then conducted a raid at their house, but the accused had fled before the cops could reach there. After this, policemen were deployed in the area in civil clothes to gather information.
On Saturday, the police got a tip-off that the accused persons were coming to Chandni Chowk to sell the stolen jewellery after which the police laid a trap and apprehended all the four accused persons.
"The stolen jewellery worth Rs 1 crore has been recovered from the accused persons," the officer said.