In the first incident, three armed youths entreated the office of Mukesh Gupta, a scrap dealer in Sadar Bazaar, around 2.30 p.m. and robbed him of Rs 4 lakh.

The youths, who are yet to be identified, went to Gupta's shop and asked one of his helpers, Gopal, about the whereabouts of another helper, Rakesh. When they were told that Rakesh had gone out, they barged into Gupta's room and threatened him with revolvers. After taking away the money, they left the spot on foot.

The police suspect that the robbery was carried out with an insider's assistance. A case of robbery has been registered. The most baffling incident has been the robbery in the Seelampur area last night. Though two of the robbers were reportedly identified by the victims, the police have discovered the both the persons are currently lodged in Tihar. Satish Kumar and Narender Kumar both residents of Maujpur were returning home from ISBT in the evening in an autorickshaw when the incident occurred.

Three more persons reportedly got into the same vehicle on the way. When the TSR reached the Seelmapur police station area, the new passengers allegedly brandished knives and robbed Satish Kumar and Narender Kumar of Rs 4,000 and some jewellery.

The victims were forced out of the TSR, while the robbers fled from the spot. Though the police have registered a case of robbery, they claim that there are several loopholes in the statements given by Satish and Narender. First, when the victims were shown photographs of all ``bad characters'' in Seelampur, they identified two persons as the robbers.

Subsequent investigations revealed that both the ``bad characters'' were convicted in some other case on July 28 and are currently lodged in Tihar jail.

Second, the businessmen claimed that an 11-year-old boy, had whipped out a knife before robbing them. And third, the incident occurred at a time when the area was crowded. Earlier in the day, Satpal Mehta, boarded a bus from ISBT. When the vehicle was moving through the Mayapuri area around 11 a.m., he was accosted by four youths inside the bus. One of them threatened him with a knife and snatched his wallet containing Rs 300. Other passengers put up a resistance and managed to nab one of the youths who was later identified as Sandeep, 26. He was beaten up by the passengers and then handed over to the local police. Sandeep has been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital.