Delhi Police busts gangs of women; seizes jewellery, cash worth Rs 1 crore

The women allegedly targeted elderly or distracted passengers carrying jewellery bags, removing valuables during escalator movement, before slipping away in the crowd.Four women were arrested and assets worth Rs 30 lakh were found.

The Delhi Police has busted two separate women-led gangs allegedly involved in targeting female passengers at elevators and escalators of major railway stations, an officer said on Wednesday.

Five women have been arrested and stolen jewellery, wristwatches and cash worth Rs 1 crore have been found, he added.

According to police, one of the arrested accused is a habitual offender with 13 previous cases against her.

The first case was detected at the Sarai Rohilla railway station, where an inter-state gang from Gujarat allegedly operated inside elevator cabins, targeting handbags of women passengers during crowd movement.

Police said the accused frequently changed rented accommodations in Delhi or returned to Gujarat to evade surveillance. Police have arrested one of the active members of the gang and stolen property worth Rs 70 lakh was found at her instance.

In another case, a Delhi-based escalator-theft gang from Anand Parbat's Faridpuri Camp was busted at the New Delhi railway station, police said. The women allegedly targeted elderly or distracted passengers carrying jewellery bags, removing valuables during escalator movement, before slipping away in the crowd.

Four women were arrested and assets worth Rs 30 lakh were found. One of them, identified as Laxmi, has a long history of similar offences, police said.

More than 100 CCTV camera feeds collected from multiple locations were analysed, and technical as well as human intelligence was layered to track movement patterns, escape routes and hotspots, the senior police officer said.

Police advised passengers -- especially women -- to remain alert while using elevators and escalators and keep handbags secured at all times.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)