Gang that drugged drivers to steal e-rickshaws busted, 6 held

NEW DELHI: For the past few months, cops had been kept on their toes by a

gang

targeting e-rickshaws in west and outer Delhi. The criminals would pose as passengers early in the morning or late at night,

drug

the driver en route and flee with the vehicles.


Due to a high dose of sedatives, the victims remained unconscious for at least a week and couldn’t provide any information to police. After getting reports of more than 50 incidents, police managed to bust the six-member interstate gang for the crimes.

DCP (west) Monika Bhardwaj said the first breakthrough came a few days ago when a policeman on patrol spotted a man lying down on the road in Kirti Nagar with two men frisking him.

Constable

Mahender chased and caught one of them, who spilled the beans about the gang.

“A special team led by ACP Ramesh Lamba and SHO Anil Sharma conducted raids across two states and three districts of Delhi and arrested the robbers,” Bhardwaj added. The second accused was traced to Ghonda village in Delhi, the third to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and the rest were nabbed from trans-Yamuna areas.

The arrested men — identified as Sukhbir, Samim, Deen Mohammed, Aslam, Sikandar, Sharif and Shivam — belong to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Eight e-rickshaws have been seized from them. The gang members disclosed that they sold the stolen e-rickshaws in interiors areas of northeast Delhi and UP where public transport is scarce. The accused have confessed to having committed crimes in areas like Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Hari Nagar, Vikaspuri, Rajouri Garden, Kirti Nagar, Moti Nagar, Khayala and Samaypur Badli.