DRIVE-BY SNATCHER LADY HELD AT LAST
The daughter of a cop was held for at least 10 cases in which she went around asking for directions in her car before stealing the phones of those who helped her.
TEN MOBILE PHONES AND A HONDA BRIO CAR USED TO COMMIT THE CRIMES WERE RECOVERED FROM THE POSSESSION OF THE ACCUSED.
The 30-year-old daughter of a Delhi Police sub-inspector and her friend were arrested on Saturday for allegedly being involved in a series of mobile phone thefts in Delhi University’s North Campus.
Ten mobile phones and a Honda Brio car used to commit the crimes were recovered from the possession of the accused.
HT was the first to report about the woman snatcher on October 8.
Police said the woman, Sonam (name changed), is a divorcee. She wanted to take revenge from her separated husband as he allegedly used to physically and mentally torture her. Sonam snatched mobile phones to hire contract killers and get her ex-husband killed, police said.
She roped in an old friend Neeraj Kumar, also a divorcee, and decided to raise money by stealing expensive mobile phones from students staying in DU’s North Campus and adjoining areas, police said. Both Sonam and Neeraj are Delhi University graduates.
Police said, a ‘well-dressed’ woman, Sonam, used to drive up to students in a white Brio car and claim that her phone had run out of battery. She then borrowed the phone from the student on the pretext of making an emergency call. After engaging the students in a conversation, she used to snatch their phones and drive away.
The couple had become a headache for police in the district, with ten cases being reported at three police stations of northwest district — Maurice Nagar, Model Town, Roop Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar — within a fortnight.
Neeraj, 30, claimed to have a business of supplying toys and stationery to shopkeepers. He too needed money to pay off loans and to bear his daily expenses.
Milind Mahadeo Dumbere, deputy commissioner of police (northwest) said on Saturday around 8pm, head constable Jitender and constable Satish spotted a woman and a man in a white Brio car without number plates near Grand Plaza mall in Model Town.
“When the couple was questioned about the missing number plates, they could not provide a satisfactory answer. They were then brought to the police station and interrogated after which they confessed to the snatchings,” said Dumbere.
Police said the car used in committing crime belongs to Neeraj. They started snatching phones in the last one month after separating from their spouses.
Dumber said: “The woman spoke fluent English and so nobody could imagine that she might be a thief.”
The woman is a mother of an 8-year-old son and Neeraj has a 5-year-old daughter. Police sources said both live in Majlis Park area under the jurisdiction of Adarsh Nagar police station.
Police sources said the duo was in relationship before their marriage and suspect their contact with each other led to their separation.