‘Failed’ realtor held for Rs 1.5 crore robbery

NEW DELHI: A month after robbers struck at a businessman’s house and looted Rs 1.5 crore after attacking his wife and nephew, three of them and a woman were arrested and nearly Rs 47 lakh recovered.
DCP (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse identified the three as Baldev Singh (47), Biru (39) and Sonu (22). The identity of the woman was not disclosed, but she was the aerobics trainer of the businessman’s wife.
The incident occurred on the intervening night of March 30 and 31. Businessman Vinod Bhalla had gone to Punjab and his wife Pooja and nephew Arjun were at home. The six assailants entered the house at Sewak Park colony around 2am. Arjun heard the glass window of a room creak and went out to check. The robbers were already in the house then. They thrashed him and Pooja, tied their hands and feet with cloth and taped their mouths. After that, the men ransacked the house and left with Rs 1.5 crore cash, gold bangles, laptops and watches.
Bhalla, upon return from Punjab, reported the matter to the police.
Police checked CCTV footage and spotted six people but couldn’t identify them immediately. They started scanning phone numbers that were active on the night of the incident in the area. They then zeroed in on Baldev Singh and detained him for questioning. After feigning ignorance for a while, Singh eventually confessed to having plotted and executed the robbery. On his tip, Biru, Sonu and the woman were arrested.
Singh was a realtor who had suffered losses in his business and needed money. The woman aerobics trainer was his friend. She told him that the Bhallas had a lot of cash and could be easily targeted as Bhalla would be going to Punjab on a religious trip, leaving his wife and nephew behind.
Bhalla then teamed up with Biru, a scrap dealer, and Sonu, an e-rickshaw driver and got three more men on board.
On the evening of the robbery, the woman deliberately left the back door of the house open before leaving so that the robbers could easily enter.