NAGPUR: A trickster duo from Delhi — Pawan Kumar Bir Singh and Anita Sharma — labelled ‘Bunty & Babli', referring to the con couple of Bollywood fame, were nabbed from a train near Bodh Gaya in Bihar last week for their alleged role in stealing 38 laptops from a Nagpur trader a month ago. The duo also committed a similar offence of stealing 85 laptops pegged at Rs 35 lakh from a shop in Noida recently.
The live-in couple had stolen at least 150 laptops from different cities and sold these in Delhi's grey markets.
They would then set off to a holiday destination till their money from crime proceeds would dry up. After pocketing a substantial amount from the Nagpur heist, the two were heading to Puri, when police managed to alert railway security forces to intercept them in train.
Bajaj Nagar police seized 12 laptops from the grey market in Delhi, where the duo had sold brand-new stolen gadgets for around Rs 10,000-15,000 each. Grey market traders in turn were selling these for Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000.
Bajaj Nagar police registered an offence against Pawan and Anita last month, following a complaint by a showroom owner, who said that the duo decamped with 37 laptops of Rs 15 lakh. Introducing themselves as IT company directors, ‘Bunty & Babli' booked a hall and approached laptop traders, seeking collaboration to set up an office.
With her suave mannerisms and impeccable English accent, Anita bowled over the showroom owner, who dispatched 38 laptops to be set up as workstations at a hall near Laxmi Nagar. The next day, the Bunty-Babli duo sneaked away with the laptops and switched off their cell phones.
The two were outsmarted by Nagpur Police's cyber sleuths, who used details of their switched-off cellphone to track them down in north India. A team of Bajaj Nagar police, led by sub-inspector Deepak Pawar and inspector Baliram Sutar tried to zero in on them in Noida, but they had by then left for Odisha.
With advanced cell phone surveillance technology, traced them in a train and alerted railway cops. The couple was nabbed on November 16, but police opted to send them to judicial custody due to election duty.
On November 23, they were remanded in police custody for five days, but the interrogation was not enough to unearth the booty. Police sought further custody remand, but were denied by court.
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