Trader tries to stop ‘snatchers’ in east Delhi, shot

THE TWO ACCUSED LEFT BEHIND THEIR BIKE, BUT THEY STOLE A SCOOTER THAT HAD ₹60,000 CASH IN ITS BOOT, SAY COPS

NEWDELHI: Two alleged snatchers reportedly shot a businessman for trying to stop and apprehend them in east Delhi’s Babarpur on Tuesday afternoon. Police said after the shooting, the men robbed another passerby of his scooter and fled. The suspects remained unidentified till late Thursday night.

The two men left behind their motorcycle, but the police said the scooter they stole had ₹60,000 cash in its boot.

The crime reportedly took place at about 1pm on Tuesday in Babarpur when some residents started chasing two alleged snatchers on a motorcycle.

Deputy commissioner of police (north-east) Atul Kumar Thakur said, “We heard that the suspects had made a failed attempt to snatch a woman’s gold chain in the area, but the we could neither trace the complainant nor find any eyewitness who could testify to that.”

As residents and passersby chased the suspects, 50-year-old businessman Prem Pal spotted the men approaching his shop on a motorcycle. “Prem Pal immediately started his scooter and tried to block their path,” said the DCP.

Forced to stop by Pal’s scooter, the alleged snatchers lost balance and fell off their motorcycle. Pal then grabbed one of the accused in order to prevent him from escaping. Seeing his associate nabbed, the other robber allegedly opened fire on Pal.

The bullet hit Pal on his abdomen, police said.

The two men then ran on foot into a nearby lane but reached a dead end. There, they took a man’s scooter at gunpoint. “The robbers first tried to hide in a flat, but changed their mind after spotting me on my scooter. They pointed a pistol at my head and took away my scooter,” said Jitender Kasana, a local property dealer.

Kasana claimed ₹60,000 cash was kept in the scooter’s boot. “One of the robbers had put on a doctor’s mask. I can identify the other robber who was unmasked,” said Kasana.

Pal, meanwhile, was rushed to a hospital and treated for the bullet injury which doctors said was not life threatening.

Investigators later discovered that the abandoned motorcycle had been stolen.