Two for price of one: How cops caught Delhi twins after string of heists

NEW DELHI: It began as two-much of a riddle. How can a suspect be in two places at the same time? Be caught on CCTV snatching a necklace while being clicked on another camera miles away at the same moment?
It took a while, but Delhi Police solved this puzzle of faces with a number - a motorcycle registration number. Tracking a bike used in last week's brazen daylight heist near Burari Chowk, police found its owner who turned out to be a father of twins.Police ended up nabbing two for the price of one, ending the terror run of 23-year-olds Vishal and Vikash.
The carbon-copy siblings had exploited their twin advantage for weeks, leaving behind a trail of snatched gold and shattered lives.
How twins evaded arrest for long time
On Sept 21, a woman was purchasing fruits at Burari Chowk when two men on a motorcycle swooped in, yanked her chain, and sped off towards Sant Nagar.
There had been a string of similar snatchings earlier. With CCTV footage revealing two suspects who seemed to be one, the question loomed: how do you catch a criminal who can literally double his alibi? Delhi Police had to win this game of cat and mouse.
The investigation, led by inspector Ajit Kumar and SI Shubham, zoomed in on the registration number of the motorcycle and found out that it belonged to a father of twins, said DCP Manoj Meena. The double alibi lay unmasked.
Police raided several hideouts and, using CCTV footage, tracked the lookalike twins’ movement, which led them to Harit Vihar. Within 24 hours, Vishal and Vikash were in cuffs.
Their notorious snatching spree was over.
During interrogation, the twins revealed how, when detained by police after a crime, they would use their facial likeness to confuse the investigation. They would either pretend to be the other sibling or claim innocence, saying they were elsewhere when the crime was committed. They were, in fact, picked up in some cases where CCTV provided clinching evidence but were let off due to lack of evidence.
Investigation revealed that Vishal and Vikash have a history of robbery, snatching, theft, and Arms Act cases. Vikash, an active history sheeter of Burari police station, was released from jail in Nov 2023 and promptly resumed criminal activities with his brother.
Vishal also has a history of crime with multiple theft and snatching cases registered against him, not just in Burari but also in Wazirabad and Mahendra Park.
The twins' arrest’ solved six snatching cases in Burari. Police have recovered the stolen gold chain, weighing 15 grams, and seized the motorcycle.