Man holding MPhil in chemistry held for jewellery store heists in Delhi

A 32-year-old man with an MPhil in Chemistry from Delhi University has been arrested for his alleged involvement in two jewellery shop heists in northwest Delhi's Model Town area, officials said on Sunday.

The accused, Deep Shubham, a native of Sitamarhi in Bihar and currently residing in Sohna in Haryana, is a proclaimed offender in two robbery cases and was earlier convicted in a bank robbery case in his home state in 2017, police said.

Shubham, who was arrested from the Hari Nagar area in Sohna on Saturday, used his knowledge of chemistry to prepare a smoke bomb while executing the bank robbery in Bihar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Harsh Indora said.

According to police, the accused completed BSc (Hons), MSc and MPhil in Chemistry from the Delhi University, and also briefly pursued law in Visakhapatnam.

"In 2021, he and his associates carried out two armed robberies at jewellery shops in the Gujranwala area. In one incident, they looted over Rs 6 lakh in cash and mobile phones at gunpoint, while in another, they escaped with Rs 70,000 after threatening the staff," said the officer.

"After securing bail in the Delhi cases, he went underground and frequently changed locations to avoid arrest. He was recently traced by the team and arrested. Shubham was currently working as an interior designer at a private firm in Sohna," he added.

In 2017, Shubham robbed a government bank in the Pupri area of Bihar, where he used a homemade smoke bomb made from methyl acetate and benzene to create chaos, fleeing with around Rs 3.6 lakh in cash, police stated.