The police claimed to have busted a gang of thieves with the arrest of four of its members in west Delhi, the police said on Friday.
The accused are allegedly involved in nearly 70 cases of thefts over the past two months committed using catapults to steal valuables after breaking car windows. The four men have been identified as Bhure (23), Umesh (23), Rahul (22), and Shripal (24).
Catapults, marbles, eight laptops, two mobile phones and one scooty have been recovered from their possession. They were active in Rajouri Garden, Kirti Nagar, Vikaspuri, Mangolpuri, Anand Vihar and other areas of Delhi.
“The accused would target cars parked on the roadside or service lanes near offices and shopping malls. We received several calls regarding thefts in Punjabi Bagh. A police team was formed and the accused were arrested,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Monika Bhardwaj.
Modus operandi
Disclosing the modus operandi, the accused told the police that one of them would roam around cars to identify vehicles with valuables like laptops, mobile phones or bags. After spotting a target, other members of the gang would receive a signal.
One of them would then bring his motorcycle near the target car and accelerate to mask the noise of the window breaking.
In the meantime, others would hit the window using a catapult. All this while, two other members would be on the lookout for trouble and cover the targeted car.
“The accused belong to a village in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh and had come to Delhi to earn a livelihood. They started by selling eatables at traffic signals. They came in contact with Shripal, who is a resident of Madanpur Khadar in Delhi, and formed a gang,” said Ms. Bhardwaj.
