delhi

Updated: Jun 02, 2017 12:06 IST

This is the quintessential Delhi story involving street food, politics, crime and traffic.

As former BJP MLA Vijay Jolly was having golgappas on the roadside in South Delhi’s Lado Sarai on Wednesday evening, two bike-borne youths robbed his laptop, camera and important documents by breaking his car window..

Jolly claimed that he spotted the two motorcycle-borne suspects soon after the crime, but he could not chase them down because of a traffic jam.

Jolly then approached the police who registered a case of theft at Saket police station. The thieves, however, are yet to be identified.

Jolly, who has been the general secretary and vice president of Delhi BJP in the past, said he was on his way to Janakpuri from his office in Sangam Vihar on Wednesday evening when the crime happened.

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Vijay Jolly’s chase in vain A look at how the former BJP MLA tried to get hold of men who robbed his car but got stuck in a traffic jam How it happened...

1 Former BJP MLA Vijay Jolly was on his way to Janakpuri from his office in Sangam Vihar on Wednesday evening.

2 Around 8pm, he stopped at a popular street food stall in Lado Sarai. He parked his white i20 car on the roadside and went to the stall with his friend to have golgappas.

3 A person alerted him about the shattered window glass of his car.

4 Jolly found his bag, containing a camera and laptop, missing from the car.

5 The suspected thieves, after breaking into Jolly’s car, had gone to buy liquor from a nearby shop, without noticing that Jolly was standing nearby.

6 When they were returning from the shop, a couple told Jolly that they were the same men who broke into his car.

7 The duo fled on their Splendor motorcycle, which had no registration plate.

8 Jolly chased them in his car.

9 The thieves turned on to Lado Sarai Road. The politician had to give up the chase because of the traffic jam.

Travelling in his white i20 car, Jolly was accompanied by a friend as they drove to Janakpuri to attend a friend’s retirement party.

“As I passed by Lado Sarai, I noticed a popular street food stall. I felt like having chaat and golgappe. So I parked my car on the roadside,” he told HT on Thursday.

He and his friend had barely begun eating when a young couple drew his attention to his car. “The right window at the back was shattered. My bag containing a laptop, a digital camera, my flight tickets to Cambodia and some documents meant for senior BJP leaders were missing,” he alleged.

When he enquired from the people about the suspects, they told him about two young men on a black motorcycle that did not have a registration number plate.

“I walked around a little to find the Splendour motorcycle without a number plate parked near a liquor shop. The two youths were walking towards the bike with alcohol bottles in their hands,” claimed Jolly.

He said the couple that had alerted him about the theft confirmed that they had seen the same men. That’s when Jolly started to chase them in his car.

“I chased them for some distance and I was very close to nabbing them but a bad traffic ended my chase. The thieves sped away on their bike,” said Jolly. He called the police who took down his statement and registered a case.

Jolly said he enquired at the crime spot and found that a similar crime had happened with another car just two days earlier. “I am shocked. If an ex-MLA can be targeted so easily, imagine the fate of the common people,” he said.

“Motorcycle-borne gangs are spreading terror in south Delhi areas. The police need to tighten the screws to bring confidence in the people,” he added.