5 arrested for training kids to pick pockets

Mostly orphans were targeted

The Delhi police has arrested a gang who allegedly made street children pick pockets and snatch valuables on Thursday. The gang of five men who have been identified as Rakesh Kumar, Golu, Ankit, Govind and Nasir operated across the city, said the police.

According to the police, the accused would pick up children, mostly orphans from the pavement, and take them to Shahdara in east Delhi, where they were kept in a room. The children were lured with food and money.

They were taught how to steal money, mobile phones and snatch chains, and later placed at the Metro stations and railway platforms. They were even trained on using blades and injure people if they got caught while stealing, said the police.

The police believe the gang had been operating for quite some time. They stumbled upon the crime trail after a child was

◗ The Delhi police stumbled upon the crime trail after a child was caught with a stolen mobile phone

caught with a stolen mobile phone. He led them to the room in Shahdara where 12 children were rescued and stolen articles found. As many as 40 mobile phones and ` 4.5 lakh were found on them.

The children were on Thursday produced before the court for underage criminals in the capital and sent to a juvenile home. Senior officers said that the police teams are now on the lookout for more children engaged in criminal activities.

According to a data released by the National Crime Records Bureau ( NCRB) in December 2017, 90 per cent of street children were vulnerable to drug abuse. Quoting a study done by the AIIMS, the WCD ministry had informed Parliament last year that over 21,500 were tobacco users.