Man's daring bid to steal Lt Colonel's BMW fails

Daring attempts on burglary can often lead you to nothing. A conman who tried to enter a military officer's mess and was almost successful in duping the Lt Colonel in order to steal his car failed terribly.

The accused ended up breaking the heavily guarded door in an attempt to flee the spot with the BMW but got stranded in a massive traffic jam. After this, he left the car there and fled the spot.

The story starts with when the lieutenant colonel posted in Sena Bhawan published an advertisement on OLX (shopping site) for a potential customer for his old Maruti Zen car.

It was then when he was contacted by a buyer from Gujarat. The unsuspecting Colonel shared his number and soon both started conversing. After this, the army officer invited the accused to have a dinner with him. Meantime, the buyer could also look at the car, thought the officer.

The dinner was held at a place in Sabre officer's mess in Delhi Cant on Wednesday where the men sat to discuss the deal. However, the buyer who identified himself as Jigar Patel by now had eyed the Colonel's BMW parked in the mess.

"Tactically, the man lured Colonel to sell his BMW and told him that he could get a very good offer for his BMW if he wishes to sell it too," said a senior police officer.

However, the Colonel rejects the BMW offer and stuck to selling his Maruti Zen. It was then when Jigar attempted his last minute persuasion and tried to convince the Colonel for a test drive.

Following this, the army officer making the biggest mistake nodded a yes to this man and handed over the BMW keys to him.

As the accused took the driver's seat he pretended as if he is unable to start the high-end car. Falling for the trap, the Colonel stepped out of the car to help him start it. Grabbing the opportunity, the accused applied pepper spray in the Colonel's eyes and started the car at a high speed.

The CCTV grab shows the locked gate of the officer's mess with army guards. Soon, a BMW is seen banging the door, ripping the iron gates apart. Luckily, the security staff moved aside on time which left them uninjured.

However, the conman did not know that behind the closed gates was a surprise waiting for him.

Luck ran out for him as he got stuck in the massive traffic jam just outside the gate. Unable to make way through it, he got out of the car and fled the spot.

"We have formed several teams to arrest the accused. We are investigating the mode of communication he did with the Colonel to track the man," said DCP South West, Surender Kumar.