Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough in the sensational robbery case involving an elderly couple at a gated community in Kapra, the Delhi police reportedly arrested four accused persons in the national capital region following a request from the Malkajgiri police and recovered the entire stolen gold jewellery and silver articles intact from their possession.
The accused, Sabeena and Rajesh, posed as domestic workers and targeted the elderly couple, who were residing alone at Golf View gated community under Jawaharnagar police station limits, and fled to Delhi. A source said another associate linked to the gang was traced in Bengaluru, though his exact identity and role are still under investigation.
Sources said the investigation initially hit a dead end as the accused had switched off their mobile phones soon after fleeing the city. The police were also left with almost no surveillance clues as the gated community had no CCTV cameras installed at the entrance and the accused unplugged the cameras inside the victims’ residence before throwing the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) into water.
The victims, Murali Mohan, 64, a retired professor and financial consultant who studied at IIM and continues to deliver guest lectures at institutions within and outside Telangana, and his wife Dr Vijaya Lakshmi, 58, a medical professor, were left traumatised after the attack. The couple, whose children are settled abroad, were living alone in their sprawling residence built on a 2,000 square yard area, with no watchman.
A police source said the Nepal-origin accused had joined work at the residence on April 24 by introducing themselves as Sabeena and Rajesh, though investigators suspect that the identities and Aadhaar cards submitted by them were fake.
Police are also probing whether the duo were actually a couple or merely posed as one to gain the trust of the elderly victims. Vijaya Lakshmi grew uncomfortable with Sabeena’s behaviour and fired her. May 12 was expected to be her final working day at the residence.
Suspecting that they would lose access to the house, the gang executed the robbery on May 12 night. Modus operandi was similar to the one seen in the Jubilee Hills murder for gain case of the retired IPS officer’s wife, where the deceased informed her previous maid to return to work and remove the accused help.
The accused told the couple it was Sabeena’s birthday and sought permission to invite relatives for a small celebration. After a cake-cutting ceremony inside the house, the gang attacked the couple while they were having dinner, tied them up, assaulted them and demanded valuables.
During the robbery, the accused allegedly attempted to force-feed the couple an unidentified sedative. Despite Vijaya Lakshmi pleading with them not to administer the substance, as Murali Mohan had previously suffered a cardiac arrest, a small quantity was reportedly forced on them, causing the couple to lose consciousness. Police said the gang escaped with 60 tolas of gold ornaments, and 15 kilograms of silver articles.
Investigators later managed to establish the role of an associate in Bengaluru and a police team immediately rushed there. All this while, their phones remained off and it only turned out to be difficult for the police. While the team was in front of the suspect, a sudden phone call from one of the accused triggered a breakthrough in the case. Police immediately alerted Delhi police, who tracked and arrested the four-member gang.
The source said that the accused are newbies and said the stolen property was recovered intact from the accused. However, the source withheld the names to not to tamper the investigation but said further investigation is underway to ascertain whether the gang is linked to similar offences reported earlier, including a robbery reported in Moinabad in 2023.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
