Gurugram property dealer arrested after his video of 'stealing' flower pots went viral

Sanjay Yadav

Gurugram, March 1

Gurugram police have arrested a property dealer for stealing flower pots, kept for beautification of the area for the G20 Summit. Police have recovered 10 stolen flower pots and seized the SUV, which was used to carry the stolen flower pots, an official said.

Those flower pots were kept for beautification ahead of G20 in Gurugram

But this man with expensive vehicle steals those flower pots

Idiots like him are harmful for India’s progress! pic.twitter.com/O5XKcYBOFP

— Mahesh Vikram Hegde 🇮🇳 (@mvmeet) February 28, 2023

Following the arrest of the accused, identified as Gandhinagar resident Manmohan (50), an official of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) also came under the scanner as the accused confessed that the official had called him to the spot to pick the plants.

“We have also identified the GMDA official allegedly involved in the incident. He is Nawab Singh, general manager in the urban environment division of GMDA. We will arrest him soon. The main accused Manmohan was let off on bail after he joined the investigation,” said Virender Vij, DCP, East.

Meanwhile, GMDA on Wednesday terminated Nawab from his service after his name was revealed by the accused property dealer.

“In view of the incident of the flower pots being picked up by a local resident, which was captured on video, the concerned staff on duty during the occurrence has been terminated from his service”, said spokesperson of GMDA. Nawab Singh was a contractual employee in GMDA, said an official.

Police said the suspect was traced with the help of his vehicle registration number, which was visible in the video that had gone viral on multiple social media platforms. The vehicle is a Kia Carnival, which was registered in the name of the wife of the accused and it has been seized.

“During interrogation, Manmohan revealed that Nawab Singh working with GMDA is his friend who had called him to the spot to pick the plants. Case has already been registered under Section 379 IPC and Manmohan has been arrested with regard to theft of flower pots. The pots have been recovered and vehicle concerned has been seized,” added DCP Vij.

Gurugram police on Tuesday lodged an FIR into the theft of flower pots set up for a G20 event here after a video of two men allegedly stealing them went viral on the internet. The incident took place on Monday in front of the Ambience Mall on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. The man in the video can also be seen putting those pots in an SUV.

The complaint filed by Metropolitan Green Planner, Urban Environment Division of GMDA said, “It has been observed that some passers-by/thieves are stealing flower pots placed on the roadside. A video of the theft of flower pots is also going viral on Twitter, in which the registration number of the car used in the theft is HR 20 AY 0006. Therefore, take necessary action against the one who steal the flower pots, considering the importance of the national level event, and also deploy police personnel for the security of the flower pots planted on both sides of the road, so that the G-20 event can be completed smoothly.”