Delhi Police arrest 2 for abducting, looting people in cabs

NEW DELHI: Two men were arrested by Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Monday for allegedly abducting and looting passengers in a moving taxi. Investigators claimed that one of the accused had also looted a Canadian pilot in 2019.

The accused, Mehraj (32) and Gulzar (39), are natives of Uttar Pradesh. "Mehraj was involved in 11 criminal cases and was working as a driver with a cab aggregator," said an officer.

On July 14, an Uttarakhand-based businessman reported a robbery in Patparganj Industrial Area. "He was travelling to Gurgaon from his native place by a private bus. He was dropped near Anand Vihar ISBT around 4.30am. He then boarded a taxi. There were three passengers in the taxi. He was overpowered by them and robbed of Rs 8,000 in cash. They also took his ATM card and forced him to reveal its PIN. He was made to call his family members to deposit money in his account. Later, the robbers withdrew Rs 8,500 using the ATM and dumped him in Greater Noida," deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rohit Meena said.

Both the accused were nabbed from Ghaziabad. Mehraj told police that his associates and he used to rob commuters in the early hours. He also used a forged numberplate for the taxi. They committed three robberies in one month, including two in UP and one in Delhi.

"Mehraj was lodged in Tihar Jail in 2019 after getting caught for the robbery of the Canadian pilot from IGI Airport. He was released in June 2022. He again started committing crimes," said the officer.

A probe is on to find out how he was working as a driver for a company. The officer said, "We have written to the aggregator and sought details, including whether they had conducted Mehraj's background check. Gulzar is a plumber and was earlier involved in a robbery case."