NEW DELHI: Four members of a family – an elderly couple, their daughter-in-law and their minor grandson – were allegedly “held hostage”, “manhandled” and robbed of gold and cash inside their home in the upscale Golf Links area by a group of five to six men, allegedly led by the family’s recently hired domestic help, investigators familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The victim’s family owns a liquor shop and lives near Tughlaq Road. The elderly man is the chairman and managing director of the family-owned liquor company, according to two investigators familiar with the details of the case, who requested anonymity.
According to the above-mentioned investigators, the domestic helper, who was hired “five to six days ago,” entered the house with five of her accomplices on Thursday evening. No arrests have been made so far.
Senior police officers said the incident appeared to be “planned”. The house help entered the house with five of his friends around 7.30 to 8 pm. The first officer said the men were carrying sticks and house-breaking tools to “intimidate” family members.
A senior police officer said, “The family took help of the accused about five to six days ago. He came there around 7:30 pm and they opened the door for him. However, they did not know that five masked men were following him. All the accused entered and then manhandled the family members. The family was then held hostage in a room and threatened to hand over all their jewellery.”
Police said it took only 20 to 25 minutes for the accused to ransack all the rooms and steal the gold jewellery $25-30 thousand.
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Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma confirmed the incident and said that a PCR call was received reporting the theft at around 8 pm on Thursday. He confirmed that the defendants were wearing masks and treated the family roughly before taking them hostage and robbing them.
“The main accused was identified and named only last week. The family did not check with local staff. He and his associates managed to camp with the jewellery. We have deployed multiple teams. We have some leads and will nab the accused soon,” DCP Sharma said.
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Investigators identified the main accused by his first name only – Sushil. Police found that Sushil was hired after another domestic worker recommended his name. This employee is also tracked.
The theft highlights a security flaw in the high-security area, as the residential colony is close to some of the country’s most sensitive and high-security buildings in central Delhi’s Lutyens area.
Despite tight security measures, the accused managed to escape.
HT had access to two videos from Thursday bearing timestamps of around 7:17 pm and 7:30 pm, showing the accused walking through the back lanes of the colony. Some of them had covered their faces with handkerchiefs.
Police said they collected crucial evidence from the scene and confiscated CCTV footage from nearby cameras. Initial investigations indicate that the accused was aware of the cash and jewelry found in the house. A case has been filed with Tughlaq Road police station.
HT reached out to the liquor company owner’s son, but he said the family is not ready to issue a statement on the matter yet.
