In an incident that has uncovered a dangerous criminal trend in Delhi, a senior citizen was stabbed to death and two others seriously injured in three dawn robberies in southwest Delhi within 10 minutes.
Swift action by cops have led to the arrest of all three accused, one of them a notorious criminal with 42 criminal cases against him.
The separate incidents took place in Sagarpur area of southwest Delhi in the early hours yesterday.
According to police, the three accused on a bike targeted a 74-year-old man, Mohan Lal Chhabra, and robbed him of gold ornament and cash. The elderly man was repeatedly stabbed till he collapsed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, said senior police officer Manoj C. Mr Chhabra's son Mahendra said he was out for a physiotherapy session when the attack took place, according to news agency PTI.
Within the next 10 minutes, the accused allegedly attacked two more persons, 54-year-old Ashok and 70-year-old Om Dutt. They are now out of danger, police said. Mr Dutt was robbed off Rs 500 and some documents.
The back-to-back incidents prompted quick response from the cops who used local intelligence inputs to track down Akshay Kumar, a notorious criminal with 42 cases against him. His aides, Sonu and Vaibhav Srivastava, were also arrested. Police said Akshay had confessed to the crimes. The murder weapon has been recovered and so have the looted items. Police are also probing if the three accused were intoxicated during the crimes.
The incidents have thrown a new challenge at Delhi Police. A new trend of robbers targeting senior citizens in the early hours, where streets are deserted, has come to light. Many senior citizens, including women, are out for morning walks in the national capital's neighbourhoods. The back-to-back incidents of loot have alarmed police about this new modus operandi. Delhi Police officers are now brainstorming on the steps that can be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
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