Delhi 'Spiderman' in police web

NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old suspected burglar, who was known as "Spiderman" among his associates because of his ability to scale walls, was arrested, along with three of his accomplices, the police said today.

The gang was active in northwest, outer, west Delhi and Rohini, they added.

Articles worth Rs 50 lakh, including 19 high-end wristwatches, smartphones, more than 30 pieces of gold and diamond jewellery weighing about 500 gms and a licensed revolver with five live cartridges were seized from the possession of the arrested men, the police said.

Theft cases were reported from northwest Delhi's Saraswati Vihar and the main accused was seen entering a house at night after scaling its walls, they added.

Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested the main accused, Jai Prakash (24), a resident of Jahangirpuri, from a spot near the MM Public School, Lok Vihar, Subhash Place, on October 7.

His accomplices -- Ravi Kumar (22), Sanjay Goyal (39) and Pramod Kumar Shah (48) -- were also arrested on the same day.

With the arrest of the four men, the police claimed to have solved as many as 53 cases of burglary.

Prakash used to carry out a reconnaissance of posh localities during the day and commit burglaries at night.

At night, he would find a park in the locality he had targeted to hide himself. He always carried an extra pair of black trousers and a black T-shirt whenever he had a plan to commit a burglary.

He would change his clothes in the park and remove his shoes before scaling the wall of a house, the police said.

Prakash could climb to any floor within a few seconds, one of the reasons why he was known as "Spiderman" among his associates, they added.

He would always get himself acquainted with the topography of an area before committing a crime there. Prakash usually committed the burglaries alone but in some cases, he took the help of Ravi Kumar.

He used to deposit a part of the stolen jewellery with a gold loan company and take cash in lieu of the pledged gold, the police said, adding that Goyal and Shah also used to help him dispose of stolen jewellery.