Keshav Puram dacoity: Assets worth Rs 40L attached by police

New Delhi: Delhi Police has attached assets worth around Rs 40 lakh in connection with a dacoity case registered in northwest Delhi’s Keshav Puram.Police said the incident was reported on July 17 last year, when a man was allegedly robbed of Rs 40 lakh at gunpoint near Kanhaiya Nagar metro station.During the investigation, four boys were apprehended and, subsequently, accused Arif (23) was arrested. Probe revealed that Arif had allegedly arranged the country-made pistol used in the offence. Police recovered around Rs 12 lakh during the investigation. Later, the alleged mastermind, Dheeraj Randhava (27), was arrested from Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district.DCP (northwest) Akanksha Yadav said Randhava had retained a substantial portion of the robbed amount and used the proceeds of crime to purchase jewellery and an immovable property plot in Sri Ganganagar. On his instance, police recovered jewellery and a mobile phone.The inquiry established that the jewellery had been purchased entirely through cash payments allegedly made from the looted money. Police also found that the accused had purchased a plot in cash soon after the commission of the offence in Sri Ganganagar.Accordingly, proceedings under Section 107 (attachment, forfeiture or restoration of property) of BNSS were initiated before the court for attachment of the jewellery and immovable property identified as proceeds of crime. Subsequently, the court directed the district magistrate, central Delhi, to attach the jewellery, while the district magistrate of Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, was directed to initiate attachment proceedings related to the plot.Police said the jewellery items were later attached and released to the complainant as per due legal procedure, while proceedings for attachment of the plot are currently underway.“The seizure and forfeiture of properties are aimed at dismantling the financial backbone of organised crime and ensuring that offenders are stripped of the proceeds of their illegal activities. The legal framework is designed not only to target organised criminal syndicates but also to hit at the economic gains generated through such crimes,” the DCP said.