NEW DELHI: Six men have been arrested in central Delhi for allegedly robbing labourers coming from the Gulf countries on the pretext of providing them Covid-19 negative report for train travel. The accused have been identified as Vijay Bhan Pandey (41), Deepak (40), Sanjeev Kumar (41), Harish Singh (35), Raju Shah (46) and Sunder (37).
Complainant Mohammad Wahi Vasi had been working as a labourer in Saudi Arabia since 2018. On Friday, he, along with four others, returned to India. The flight landed at the Delhi airport, from where they reached the New Delhi Railway Station.
On the intervening night of Friday and Saturday at the railway station, they were approached by a man who told them that to travel by train, they required a Covid-19 negative report, however, Vasi said that they already have one provided by the Delhi airport.
The accused told the victims that the report provided by the Delhi airport was not valid to travel from train and they will require a fresh one. The victims were then taken to an office at Paharganj where they were told that their reports will be ready by next day.
On Saturday morning, the victims reached the office where six persons were present. They were shown their reports and asked to pay 897 Saudi Riyal. When they refused to pay, one of the accused took out a country-made pistol, while another person took out a knife. The complainants were made hostages and beaten up by the other four accused persons.
The accused robbed the victims of 3,500 Saudi Riyal and Rs 17,970 along with other valuables including watches. Getting wind of the incident, the police rushed to the railway station and assisted the victims. The accused were subsequently apprehended.
With PTI inputs