Delhi: Govt employee among five held for looting 1 kg gold in 'Special 26'-inspired fake raid

New Delhi: Five persons were arrested for allegedly looting around 1 kg of gold from a jewellery workshop in central Delhi by impersonating enforcement officials conducting a 'raid', an official said on Friday.

According the police, the accused -- inspired by the Bollywood film 'Special 26' -- staged a raid at the workshop on November 27 by posing as Delhi Police and income tax officials, and 'confiscated' around 1 kg of gold before fleeing.

Five men -- including a Delhi government employee, and another claiming to be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Madhya Pradesh government's public relations department -- were arrested following a 72-hour chase across Delhi-NCR and several districts of Haryana, police said.

During the staged raid, one accused wore a fake police uniform while others acted as income tax officers, seizing mobile phones of workers, wiping CCTV footage, and escaping with the gold, the senior officer said.

Subsequently, the police launched a massive operation spanning over 1,200 km across Bahadurgarh, Gurugram, Sonipat, Panipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar and Jind.

The officer said footage from over 250 CCTV cameras were scanned and advanced technical surveillance was mounted to track the movement of the gang across multiple cities.

Based on technical leads, police first apprehended Sandeep (30), a native of Jind and currently living in Bhopal, from Bahadurgarh on December 2.

He claims to be an OSD in the Madhya Pradesh government, which is being verified, police said.

His interrogation led to the arrest of four other accused -- Rakesh Sharma (41) from Rohtak, Shaminder Pal Singh (43) and Lavpreet Singh (30) from Hisar, and Parvinder (42) from Delhi.

Police recovered 435.03 grams of the stolen gold, Rs 3.97 lakh in cash, three cars used in the crime -- including an SUV -- and five fake ID card holders and lanyards (piece of uniform) bearing 'Delhi Police' markings. The disguises worn during the 'raid' were also seized.

According to investigators, Parvinder, a Delhi government employee, and Sandeep devised the plan after learning from an associate that jewellery workshops in the Karol Bagh-Dev Nagar belt handled large quantities of gold.

The gang then acquired ID cards, lanyards, and a fake police uniform and conducted the raid on November 27.

After the robbery, the gold was divided between Sandeep and Parvinder's associate Akram, who is absconding. Sandeep allegedly sold 428 grams of gold and distributed proceeds of around Rs 25.5 lakh among the gang members, police said.

Efforts are underway to trace the remaining stolen gold and arrest the absconding accused -- identified as Akram, Suresh alias Jammal, and Naveen alias Kala, they added.