3 held for posing as key makers, stealing valuables
CAUGHT The trio are from Madhya Pradesh, they visited Delhi with the intention to steal
NEW DELHI: Three men have been arrested for posing as key makers and stealing cash and jewellery from homes in north and west Delhi, police said on Tuesday.
Natives of Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh, the gang would visit Delhi to steal and would stay in a budget hotel in Paharganj till any one of them got lucky, said Vijay Kumar, DCP (west district) after the special staff of his district made the arrests.
Explaining their modus operandi, the DCP said that the gang began work early in the day. “They would pair up and leave for the residential areas of Delhi. In these neighbourhoods, they would pose as key makers to gain easy access to homes,” said the DCP in a press statement.
They would be looking out for residents who would seek their services to repair the locks of safes and almirahs where jewellery or cash was likely to be kept, the officer added.
“The thieves would distract the house occupants while repairing the almirah locks and use the opportunity to steal the valuables kept inside,” the DCP told Hindustan Times over the phone.
When it was time to leave, the thieves would allegedly jam the lock of the almirah so that the victim would not immediately learn of the theft. “They would then escape on the pretext of going out to bring better tools to open the almirah,” the DCP said.
The moment any of them landed their hands on any valuables, all these thieves would immediately leave for their native village so that the police would be unable to trace them.
“But it was not every day that they would find people gullible enough to allow them access to their safes. On such occasions, the thieves would stay in Delhi for as many as 20 days at a stretch till the day they got lucky,” said
WHEN IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE, THE THIEVES WOULD ALLEGEDLY JAM THE LOCK OF THE ALMIRAH SO THAT THE VICTIM WOULD NOT IMMEDIATELY LEARN ABOUT THE THEFT
an investigator, who is not authorised to speak to the media.
But when it came to the possibility of getting caught by police, the thieves left little to chance, said police. “It was decided that the day’s work would end by early evening and each member of this gang would return to hotel by 6-7 pm,” said the investigator.
So, if any of them did not return latest by 8pm, all the thieves would i mmediately check-out of the hotel and go into hiding and keep the police at bay.
Police said the three suspects, Gurbir Singh, Parkash Singh and Narender were arrested near Shivaji Park metro station last week based on a tip-off. They were found involved in nine registered cases of thefts, all involving the same modus operandi, said the DCP.