‘Crime Patrol’ viewer claims robbery to finance his marriage, arrested

New Delhi, July 14 

To finance his marriage, a 22-year-old man along with his friend claimed a fake robbery and was arrested in outer Delhi’s Narela on Sunday. 

The accused, Gagandeep, was going to marry his girlfriend on July 20 and wanted money. So, he along with his friend, Vivek Raghav (30) concocted a story, said the police. The police claimed to have recovered Rs 10 lakh with their arrest. 

According to the police, Gagandeep, a regular watcher of ‘Crime Patrol’, a TV based crime series, took clues from the show about the techniques the police use to trace the accused and made a plot to evade arrest. He did not use his own phone to call his friend Vivek. Instead, he used the phone of a passerby so that he can’t be located by the police. 

Implementing his plan, Gagandeep, a resident of Swaroop Nagar, reported an incident of robbery of Rs 10 lakh at Narela industrial area on the intervening night of July 11-12, said the police. 

In his complaint, Gagandeep stated that he was employed with Ashish Garg at DSIIDC industrial area, Narela. He was sent to Karol Bagh by his employer to procure Rs 10 lakh. He claimed that at about 7.15 pm, while coming back two bike-borne men overtook his motorcycle and forcibly snatched his cash bag and ran away, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said. 

Investigation revealed that the accused had not called up 100 to report the incident and his phone was found to be switched off on the way from Bedan Pura, at Ashok Vihar. He called his employer through a phone taken from the passerby, the officer said.

The passerby told the police that Gagandeep alleged that some boys had robbed his cash bag and took his phone, the officer said. 

The accused alleged that he chased the robbers but after 100 metres, they moved towards GT Karnal road. He further stated that while chasing them, his bike went down and he got it repaired from a mechanic, the DCP said. 

Interrogation revealed that Gagandeep had gained faith of his employer who had shifted recently to Panipat. He plotted a false story with his friend Raghav who was also in need of money as he had taken a loan, the police said. —PTI