7 held for robbing people on pretext of offering lift in Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh

Seven people have been arrested for allegedly robbing people after offering them lift in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh, the police said on Monday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Urvija Goel said that the accused have been identified as Abhishek Kumar, 32, Arun Sharma, 25, Nikhil, 25, Prem Gupta, 22, Anshul, 22, Hemant, 27, and Arun, 22, all residents of Azadpur, who were involved in nearly 25 robberies and cases of snatching in different parts of Delhi.

The police said that the arrests were made on Saturday by a team under the direction of SHO Punjabi Bagh Hemant Kumar and ACP R.B. Lakra.

Ms. Goel said the team was deployed for a special checking drive near Ring Road in Punjabi Bagh. It stopped a suspicious car bearing an Uttar Pradesh number plate. During checking, it was found that the car was involved in several cases of robbery.

The team then apprehended three of the accused from the spot and on their instance, arrested the other four.

“During interrogation, the accused admitted to their involvement in about 25 robbery cases on the pretext of giving lift to travellers at late night or early morning. They used to paste a fake number plate on their car before committing any crime,” Ms. Goel said, adding that mobile phones, branded bags, laptops, and a motorcycle among other robbed items have been seized.

According to the police, the motive behind the crimes was to make quick money in order to sustain their lavish lifestyles and impress girlfriends.

The police said Kumar had bought a car on loan but was not able to pay the monthly instalments. So, he along with his associates decided to form a gang and make money by illegal means.