Robbery video out, 2 culprits held

The Delhi Police announced late on Monday that they apprehended two people in connection with a brazen robbery in the Pragati Maidan tunnel. They added that the remaining two suspects were identified, and raids were on to nab them.

NEW DELHI: The development came even as a dispute raged between the police and the Public Works Department (PWD) over when the crime was reported.

Staff at a control room set up to monitor live CCTV footage from the Pragati Maidan tunnel told the Delhi Police about the ₹2 lakh robbery that took place there around 3pm on Saturday within five minutes of the incident, PWD officials said on Monday.

The police refuted this, saying that the crime was reported to them around 5.30pm when the two victims visited the Tilak Marg police station.

PWD officials, who asked not to be named, said the control room staff reported the matter to police control room (PCR). “The police team came two hours later to collect the footage which we gave them,” a PWD official said, asking not to be named.

A senior police officer said this was not accurate. “We checked with the Tilak Nagar police station and PCR. No call was made either by the victims or anybody from the PWD control room staff,” the senior officer said. He, too, asked not to be named.

This is the latest in a spree of crimes in full public view in the city. Such instances are a strong stain on law and order, especially since street crimes, while not always heinous, can strip a city of its sense of safety.