: The curtain has come down on the month-long mystery of a woman who allegedly robbed people of their phones around Delhi University and other parts of north-west Delhi, with the arrest of a couple in Model Town, the police said on Sunday.
Both the accused are DU graduates and the woman the daughter of a Delhi Police sub-inspector.
Revenge
While both the arrested persons indulged in the crime to support themselves, the woman was also seeking revenge from her estranged husband, the police said. Both the accused are separated from their respective spouses. The woman and the co-accused Neeraj were in a relationship in the past but married others. The duo had allegedly decamped with phones after borrowing them on the pretext of making an emergency call and had targeted at least a dozen people.
Off guard
“Unlike other snatchers who catch people off guard and leave in a jiffy, the couple spent relatively more time with the victims, allowing them time to observe the suspects carefully. The woman used to target lone women/girls on the road and request for their phones to make an emergency call. After getting the phone the woman, along with her accomplice, would immediately drive away,” said a senior police officer.
What helped crack the case, which had even forced an awareness drive among DU students, was the detailed description that the victims provided, the police said .
The details of the car and the duo matched the descriptions in all cases and the staff of all police stations concerned – Model Town, Maurice Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar-- was sensitised.
A team led by Inspector Pradeep Kumar Paliwal, SHO, Model Town and ACP Model Town Ravinder Kumar Tyagi, was constituted.
“On Saturday, a white car was noticed passing through one of the pickets in Model Town. Officers in the area noticed that the description of the passenger and the car matched that of the suspects. The car also did not have a number plate. It was signalled to stop and upon searching, the number plates and 10 phones were found inside the car,” said the officer. The duo were detained and questioned and they confessed to their involvement in the crime, police said.
“The woman said she wanted to take revenge on her husband and wanted to hire some people for this. She needed money for the same and committed the crime,” said Milind Mahadeo Dumbere, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north-west).
“They are both Delhi University graduates. Neeraj has a five-year-old daughter while she has an eight-year-old son. Her divorce has not been finalised yet,” said the officer.
Duo would decamp with phones
after borrowing
them to make
‘emergency’ calls
