Ghaziabad robbery: Thieves had a solid break-in strategy but forgot to plan exit
The theft took place at the house of Raj Bhagwan Bansal while he and his family was out for dinner on the evening of July 26.
After their 19-year-old driver was arrested for masterminding the theft of cash and valuables amounting to over ₹1 crore from their home in Kavi Nagar, the family members said they never expected that a person who had been with them since childhood could do such a thing.
The theft took place at the house of Raj Bhagwan Bansal while he and his family was out for dinner on the evening of July 26.
The police have arrested Bansals’ driver Bhag Chand and three of his accomplices for the theft. Chand allegedly told the police that he needed about ₹3 lakh for the treatment of his wife, who is pregnant and is with her in-laws at their house in Madhya Pradesh.
“I received only ₹8,000 per month as salary for working as a driver. After Mangal came out of jail, we planned the theft. A day before the incident, I handed them the key to the main door and they got a duplicate made before returning the original to me,” Chand said at a press conference to announce the arrests on Thursday.
“On the night of July 26, I gave the others three missed calls on their phones. This alerted them that I was leaving with the family to Kaushambi. We did not plan an alert signal, in case the family returned home early. The family returned earlier than expected and my accomplices had to flee, leaving behind most of the cash and jewellery,” he said.
The police said their images were captured by CCTV cameras installed nearby and this eventually led to their arrests.
RN Bansal, a member of the family, said, “We never thought that the child whom we brought up would do such a thing. His parents have worked for us for the past 15 years and not a single item ever went missing from the house. We made Chand our driver as he was sincere and responsible. But things took an ugly turn.”
They said there were eight CCTV cameras on the premises but they had stopped functioning a few days before the incident.
“We are still not sure whether this was part of the theft plan. But the cameras were found out of order on the day of the incident. The police collected footage from our neighbour’s CCTV cameras. Our driver knew where the cash and valuables were kept in the house,” Bansal said.
The police said they scanned about 50 CCTV cameras and the family was initially adamant that Chand would not be handed over to police for questioning. “Later, they gave in to our demand. We were told that the driver was nervous after the incident. On detailed questioning, he broke down and confessed to the crime,” Atish Kumar Singh, circle officer (city 2), said.
