Cap, blue bag, butcher-style knife: How elderly man posing as mechanic terrorised Delhi neighbourhoods

NEW DELHI: Police have arrested a 55-year-old man who allegedly posed as a water purifier mechanic to carry out a string of robberies in northwest Delhi’s Keshav Puram and Pitampura over the last few weeks.

The man, Ajay Bagga, a resident of Model Town, was arrested after two violent incidents involving a butcher-style knife and an axe-like weapon, triggered panic among residents and spread widely on social media.

A viral CCTV footage showed Bagga, wearing a cap and carrying a blue bag, arguing with a resident outside a house while apparently trying to gain entry before moving towards another home.

Police said the first incident was reported on April 21 in Pitampura. The complainant alleged Bagga, known to his family for nearly nine years, came to the house on the pretext of meeting his father. After asking for water and entering the house, he allegedly attacked the victim.

Police said Bagga confined the complainant, demanded money and fled. The victim later alleged cash and gold jewellery worth around Rs 4 lakh were stolen from the house.



In the second incident on May 8 in Keshav Puram, a woman alleged a man posing as an RO mechanic entered her house and threatened her with a weapon. Police said she resisted and raised an alarm, forcing the accused to flee after throwing the weapon in a nearby park.

“Following the incidents, a police team analysed CCTV footage, carried out technical surveillance, conducted local enquiries and searched over 50 hotels while tracking the suspect’s movements,” DCP (northwest) Akanksha Yadav said.

Investigators later traced Bagga to Model Town, where he was apprehended.