14 members of family held for Metro thefts

Gang from Agra included six juveniles

September 20, 2017 01:13 am | Updated 01:13 am IST - NEW DELHI

NEW DELHI, 28/05/2017: Commuters travelling in a metro train 'Heritage Line' from ITO to Kashmere Gate after being flagged off by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information and Broadcasting, M. Venkaiah Naidu, in New Delhi on Sunday.
Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

NEW DELHI, 28/05/2017: Commuters travelling in a metro train 'Heritage Line' from ITO to Kashmere Gate after being flagged off by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information and Broadcasting, M. Venkaiah Naidu, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Delhi Police have busted a gang of mobile phone thieves who targeted metro passengers. Fourteen members, including minors, belonging to the same family from Agra had been robbing passengers in the Capital, the police said.

“We arrested eight adults and apprehended six juveniles on Monday. They had stolen nine mobile phones the day before they were held,” said a senior police officer.

During interrogation, they confessed that they stole anywhere between 20 to 25 mobiles every day.

The first lead came when a team patrolling the Delhi Metro station learnt about a mobile phone theft. The victim had provided basic details about the appearance and built of the suspected thief which led to the arrest of 24-year-old Bachchan Singh from the Metro station itself.

Singh disclosed he was a resident of Vishnupura village in Agra district. The stolen mobile phone was recovered from him, police claimed. He led the police to his other accomplices — family members who were “taking a break” at a park near Sabzi Mandi police station.

The remaining 13 were nabbed from there, the police added.

Strike together

The accused have confessed that they always worked in a group who would come, strike and leave the city together. They would then go back to their village where they were engaged in other vocations. However, their main source of income was these thefts, the police said.

“Two of them surrounded the victim, while the others stood in a queue. As one person distracted the victim, the other would steal his phone and passed it on to the next member,” said the police.

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