Three held for robbing passengers in autos

NEW DELHI: Three men have been arrested for allegedly robbing customers by luring them into their auto-rickshaw by offering rides at low rates, police said on Tuesday. The recovery of uniforms of central armed police force initially prompted the police to suspect that the three may have posed as security offi- cials and robbed their victims, but the uniforms turned out to be stolen. Police suspect the three may have robbed paramilitary force personnel too.

According to Meghna Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara), the gang was mostly active in east Delhi neighbourhoods, but also targeted passengers in south, north and central parts of the city.

Their latest known victim was a man travelling from Anand Vihar bus terminal to his home in east Delhi’s Jhilmil on Sunday. “Apart from the auto driver, there were two other men in the auto-rickshaw. When the autorickshaw reached an isolated spot on the Anand Vihar flyover, the three men robbed the passenger of his cash and mobile phone,” said the DCP adding that the three robbed their victims at knifepoint.

The man was then pushed out of the auto-rickshaw as the robbers sped away. The man was able to note the vehicle’s registration number which allowed the police to launch a search.

“The auto-rickshaw owner was traced and interrogated,” said the DCP.THE police were soon able to nab three men from the auto. Police identified them as Ramashish Mahto, Govind Kumar and Mukesh Kumar.