They would target solo outstation passengers taking an auto, offer them a cold drink laced with sedatives, wait till the victim fell unconscious, and then rob their phones and other valuables — this was the modus operandi used by four thieves.
The Delhi Police arrested them on Monday for allegedly being involved in a string of “Jeharkhurani”-style thefts where victims are drugged and robbed while in transit.
The four accused — Raju, Sahjada, Mohammad Azad, and Mohammad Ataullah — were arrested when they were allegedly scouting for a place to sell their stolen goods and plan more thefts, officers said.
According to the police, Raju is an auto driver from Loni, Ghaziabad, while the other three hail from Bihar.
“A police team started working on technical and manual inputs… It analysed CCTV footage tied to recent theft incidents and successfully traced the auto used during the commission of the crime. All four accused were apprehended….,” said DCP (Southwest) Amit Goel.
Police said they would allegedly target solo outstation passengers heading to the train station in Delhi to travel to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “Since most victims were in a hurry to travel back home, they usually did not lodge a complaint, which helped the accused avoid detection from the police,” said DCP Goel.
Police said the gang’s luck ran out following a case on July 13, when a victim was drugged near Dhaula Kuan and robbed of his phone. Investigation into that theft triggered a wider probe that eventually led to the gang’s arrest and helped crack the case.
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Among the items recovered were 10 strips of sleeping pills, suspected to be the intoxicants used by the accused to render victims unconscious.
According to police, Raju had seven cases filed against him previously, while Azad had five, and Sahjada had one. Mohammad Ataullah, police said, had no prior criminal record at the time of arrest.
A case has been registered under Section 303(2) (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Delhi Cantt police station.
