Five held for robbing man of belongings in south Delhi

The duo took the victims bag and mobile phone on the pretext of guarding them, while he was busy talking to the man impersonating a TTE, the officer added. During interrogation, the accused said they targetted Delhi Metro passengers who travelled alone and stole their belongings on the pretext of getting their tickets confirmed through a member of their gang who impersonated a TTE, the police said.

Five persons have been arrested here for allegedly robbing a man's belongings in south Delhi's Jor Bagh area by befriending him in a metro train, police said on Tuesday.

A 26-year-old man reported the incident at Lodhi Colony police station in April, they added.

The complainant said he befriended two persons while travelling from IFFCO chowk to Jor Bagh via Delhi Metro. When he told them that he hailed from Uttar Pradesh and was having trouble getting a confirmed railway ticket to his hometown, the duo, too, claimed to hail from the same state and offered to get his ticket confirmed, a senior police officer said.

When they reached Jor Bagh, the duo introduced the complainant to a person who identified himself as a TTE. The duo took the victim's bag and mobile phone on the pretext of guarding them, while he was busy talking to the man impersonating a TTE, the officer added. Once the complainant returned, the three fraudters fled with all of his articles, he said. During the investigation, around 300 CCTV footage with all possible routes were checked, following which one of the accused, Mohd Firoj (34), was zeroed down at Janakpuri, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowdhary. Upon his instance, the police nabbed his four associates -- Sanjeev Kumar (30), Amrendra Kumar (35), Harkishor Ram (28) and Bhikhari Pasavan (40), Chowdhary said. A total of 17 mobile phones, a laptop and several bags containing various household articles and clothes were recovered from their possession, the DCP said.

The five persons ran a gang and used the same modus operandi to trick other persons, they added. During interrogation, the accused said they targetted Delhi Metro passengers who travelled alone and stole their belongings on the pretext of getting their tickets confirmed through a member of their gang who impersonated a TTE, the police said. The accused added that they used the victim's mobile phones to fraudulently transfer money into their accounts, they added.