NEW DELHI: With people, especially women getting more vigilant about snatchers, the criminals in the city are adopting more innovative ways to commit the crime. They are now first gaining the trust of their victim and then committing the crime. In one such incident reported from the east district of Delhi, three people in an auto-rickshaw robbed a woman of her jewellery but first warned her of snatchers in the area.
The incident took place on September 29 when a woman boarded an auto rickshaw from New Delhi Railway Station for her residence at Mayur Vihar. “On their way to Mayur Vihar, the driver informed her that his rickshaw had some technical issues and shifted her to another auto, which was already carrying two ladies and one person besides the driver,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (east district) Priyanka Kashyap said.
The new auto driver asked the passengers to remove their valuable articles, including gold ornaments and put them in her bag on the pretext of preventing them from being snatched. She followed the instructions and removed her two gold bangles and two rings and put them in her bag. The driver stopped the vehicle near Chilla red light and asked her to get down and said he will drop the remaining passengers and then pick her back within a few minutes.
“On being resisted, the driver and other passengers pushed her and robbed her gold belongings,” DCP Kashyap said. The police lodged an FIR under relevant sections of law and began investigating the incident. CCTV footage of the crime spot was examined that revealed the number of an auto involved in the crime but it was fake.
“The police kept searching the auto at various places, including New Delhi Railway Station and spotted one on the basis of a specific mark available on its windscreen,” the senior official said, adding
the two accused were found sitting in the auto and were apprehended.