A 25-year-old man allegedly involved in these cases was arrested on Sunday. Shahnawaz Khan, a resident of Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi, was allegedly involved in several incidents of snatching and robbery reported from the Mandawali area, including the incident involving a woman editor working with a news agency in May, and S K Arora, MCD Special Magistrate, in March. He is believed to have amassed a huge amount of property.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Anand Mohan told mediapersons that: “Shahnawaz Khan is involved in more than 100 cases and amassed a lot of property in Delhi-NCR with the help of the robbed articles.”

He bought a flat worth Rs 14 lakh in Laxmi Nagar and also some land for about Rs 4 lakh in Loni, apart from a Honda City, sources said.

The arrest followed investigations into a spate of robberies and snatchings by two motorcycle-borne men in various parts of the Capital, Ghaziabad and Noida.

The police conducted a raid in the Shakarpur area on June 29 on the basis of tip-offs, however, Khan and his associates managed to give investigators the slip.

“A search was conducted in all the lanes and by-lanes of Shakarpur and the motorcycle used in the crimes was found in a lane in Kishan Kunj in Lakshmi Nagar. Khan, however, once again escaped, this time from his home,” Mohan said. “The police once again received a specific input about some criminals involved in snatchings assembling near Walia Nursing Home in Laxmi Nagar, which led to Khan’s arrest,” he said.

During interrogation, Khan allegedly told investigators that he and his associate committed more than 100 robberies and snatching in the East Delhi, New Delhi and Southeast Delhi areas in the Capital, besides Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. He was also allegedly involved in the murder of one Khurshid, an associate, on January 16 this year.

Shahnawaz Khan came out of jail in 2008 and has since then been involved in snatching incidents targeting women travelling in autorickshaws, cycle-rickshaws and other vehicles along with associate Ashiq Ali. “They would stop vehicles on some pretext or the other and then threaten the passengers with weapons (knives) and rob them. They also targeted women walking alone on the road,” Mohan said.

The latest case involving this gang was reported from Indirapuram in Ghaziabad on June 29. They allegedly committed three robberies, targeting autorickshaw passengers, and in one incident, they allegedly threatened to harm a small child and took all the belongings from the child’s mother.