Chain snatchers target Delhi Police’s encounter specialist, learn big lesson

Two chain snatchers who preyed on a jogger at Nehru Park in the Chanakyapuri neighborhood of the city on Saturday night have been apprehended by the Delhi Police. The assailants produced a handgun and threatened to fire if the man failed to surrender his gold chain. Attempting to dash for the entry gate, the two broke free of the chain.

The criminals had no idea that the man they were going after was none other than Vinod Badola, a proficient Krav Maga practitioner and “encounter specialist” with the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.

After a combative confrontation, Badola pursued the two kidnappers and used the revolver to disarm one of them. The FIR states that the second accused managed to get away. After then, Mr. Badola informed the PCR by calling 112. With assistance from the local police, he carried on his quest for the second culprit. The offender attempted to hide by sitting close to a fountain and blending in with the throng. But he was found and apprehended.

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DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla told the media that the two snatchers were identified as Gaurav and Pawan Dev. Both have been accused of robbery with intent to kill under certain clauses. The police have stepped up their patrols near the location and gathered CCTV video from the surrounding region.

Vinod Badola has spearheaded a number of well-known initiatives. He and his group apprehended gangster Nitu Dabodia in October 2013 and shot him after a confrontation in the vicinity of a hotel in Vasant Kunj, south Delhi.

Badola and his colleagues discovered a novel way that a group supported by the Taliban utilized to bring drugs into India. They found out that gang members were coming from Afghanistan by land, sailing to ports in western India via Iran. It was discovered that there was about 330 kg of heroin worth ₹1,320 crore. This seizure was the largest in Delhi Police’s history at the time.

Subsequently, Badola took part in other counterterrorism operations, becoming the recipient of the Union Home Minister’s Special Operations Medal on one occasion.