A robber has been arrested for targeting women returning home late in the night from their offices, said the police on Thursday. The accused had attacked and robbed a Delhi Police woman ASI few days back, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West) Devender Arya said that the Safdarjung Enclave police have arrested a robber, who has been identified as Rajesh alias Shashi Sohan Lal, a resident of Nut Colony in Chattarpur area. He was found to be involved in 39 cases of robbery, the police also said.
The police said that a woman alleged that on the intervening night of April 17 and 18, when she reached Humayunpur around 2.30 am, a person snatched her bag holding her against a surgical blade. When the woman raised an alarm, locals rushed to her rescue. The accused was caught by the locals after a brief chase and later handed over to the police for further investigation.
“We have recovered the woman’s bag from his possession apart from the surgical blade used in the crime. He has been booked under Section 392 [robbery] of the Indian Penal Code. An FIR was registered at Safdarjung Enclave police station,” said Mr. Arya.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he is a drug addict had shifted his house from Humayunpur to Chattarpur in 2015. He used to roam around during midnight and often rob women who would walk towards their homes after getting out of office cabs or public transport.
Mr. Arya also said that with his arrest, four cases of snatching and theft, reported at Safdarjung Enclave police station have been worked out.
The accused had attacked and robbed a Delhi Police woman ASI who was walking towards her home in Safdurjung area after coming back from duty two weeks ago. The ASI is posted with security unit and was walking towards her house after parking her car around 1 a.m. when a robber tried to snatch her bag. When she tried to get hold of the robber, she was attacked with a surgical blade. She suffered injuries on her hand and the robber managed to flee with her bag.
“A case was registered and the footage of the CCTV instaled in the area was also examined. We were searching for the accused who was caught red-handed when he attacked another woman [in the recent case],” said Mr. Arya. He added that the accused has revealed the name of one of his accomplices, Anil Kumar. A manhunt for Anil is on and he will be arrested soon.
