In the Najafgarh neighbourhood of southwest Delhi, a Class IX student was detained today, August 8, police said. He was accused of taking his mother's money to pay for his female friend's birthday celebration and giving her an iPhone.
The issue surfaced when the boy's mother reported house theft by an unidentified someone in a first information report (FIR). Subsequently, an investigation was conducted, and the teenager was found to be the person responsible, PTI reports.
According to the police, the accused bought the expensive phone for the girl he was supposedly in a relationship with and sold his mother's gold chain, earring, and ring to two different goldsmiths in the Kakrola neighbourhood.
A 40-year-old goldsmith named Kamal Verma has been taken into custody by the police, and they have found one gold ring and one pair of earrings.
"On August 3, an incident of house theft was reported by a woman in which she reported the theft of two gold chains, one pair of gold earrings and one gold ring from her house on August 2, by an unknown person between 8 am to 3 pm," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.
According to the officer, an inquiry was launched and a formal complaint was filed regarding the issue.
"CCTV footage of the crime scene was checked, but no suspicious activity was found near the house of the complainant at the time of the incident. The team further examined the neighbourhood for any clues but no one witnessed any suspicious activity during the said time," the DCP added.
After ruling out the involvement of outsiders, the team turned its attention to the complainant's family and discovered that the complainant's son had gone missing since the burglary.
The crew began interviewing his school friends to obtain more information.
"Our team got to know that he (accused) had purchased a new iPhone worth Rs 50,000. The team conducted many raids on his hideouts at Dharampura, Kakrola and Najafgarh, but every time he managed to escape. On Tuesday (August 7), a tipoff was received that the juvenile would come to his home at about 6 pm, following which a trap was laid near the house," DCP Singh said.
At 6.15 pm, the juvenile was apprehended near his home. He attempted to flee the police trap, but was apprehended, DCP Singh said.
"During the search, an Apple mobile was recovered from his possession. When he was interrogated, he denied initially his involvement," the officer said.
However, the boy eventually confessed that he had sold the stolen gold to two goldsmiths, and Verma was detained from his shop, he added.
"The juvenile said that he is a student of Class IX and studying in a private school in Najafgarh. His father died due to illness and he did not have any interest in studies and scored average marks," the DCP said.
His friends informed the police that he was in a relationship with a girl in the same class, he said.
"To make a stunning impression on his girlfriend on her birthday, he approached his mother to give him money but due to limited resources, she denied it and advised him to concentrate on his studies. Angered over the denial, he decided to steal money from his house," the DCP further said, adding that further probe into the matter is underway.
