Over 50 people were robbed of their jewellery and cash by armed men in south Delhi’s Neb Sarai in the small hours of Monday when they were returning after attending a wedding in north Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar.
The bus was headed towards Sangam Vihar when the robbers on motorcycles and an auto-rickshaw overtook it on a deserted stretch and robbed the passengers at gunpoint.
One of the children on the bus managed to note down the auto’s registration number, which was later given to the police. The auto-rickshaw was, in fact, spotted by the passengers a few metres away, but its occupants managed to give the police a slip, said an eyewitness.
Bus changed mid-way
Sixty-year-old Shashi Bala, one of the passengers on the bus, told The Hindu that they had left the marriage venue around 1 a.m. on a private bus and the incident happened around 2.30 a.m. near Devli village. She added that the driver of the private bus stopped mid-way and asked all passengers to shift to another bus.
“He claimed there was a problem with the engine. He called another bus and asked us all to move into that one. The second bus had no lights inside and even its windows did not shut,” she said.
Eyewitnesses said that the driver of the second bus took a different route towards Devli where a few men on motorbikes started following them and suddenly an auto-rickshaw overtook the bus.
Two of the men in the auto-rickshaw then got into the bus with country-made pistols, hit the driver twice and asked the people to get rid of their valuables. “There were mostly women in the bus and all of us were wearing gold and silver jewellery as we were returning from a wedding. Scared, we handed over all our jewellery and cash to the robbers,” Ms. Bala said.
Her son Subhash Kashyap said the other robbers on motorbikes were standing guard. “It must have taken them not more than 10 minutes to rob us and flee the spot,” he told The Hindu .
The police were called and the bus was allowed to leave after the statements of the passengers were recorded.
Auto spotted again
Ms. Bala said on their way, they saw the same auto with two men sitting inside. They called the police again. “The duo started running when they saw the police. The two police officers might have been able to catch them but their vehicle broke down a few metres into the ride ,” alleged Ms. Bala, but the police didn’t confirm.
While the guests suspect the involvement of driver in the robbery, the police said they haven’t come across any evidence against him so far.
“We have registered a case under Section 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death). We have rounded up a few suspects for questioning and are likely to make arrests soon,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner Chinmoy Biswal.
