Delhi Metro: Gang of women pickpockets targeting female commuters busted, 4 arrested

Metro Police has arrested four women from a gang who used to target female commuters in the Delhi Metro, officials said. The four accused were involved in a dozen cases of theft. The accused women were identified as Laxmi, Shashi, Sarita and Reshma. An FIR against them has been lodged with the Kashmere Gate police station.

Jitendra Mani, Delhi Metro Deputy Commissioner of Police, said that the accused women gang members used to steal valuable articles from the handbags of women commuters. The Metro Police had been receiving constant complaints in this regard.

"One Rahul had reported one of the cases to us. He told us that his uncle and aunt came to Delhi from Patna. They boarded the Delhi Metro from Kashmere Gate station. They got off at the New Delhi Railway Metro station. As they were exiting the Metro using an escalator, the bag of his aunt containing valuables, cash and gold jewellery was stolen," the official said.

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How did Metro Police bust the gang?

After receiving a number of complaints of theft, the Metro Police decided to examine the CCTV of all the Metro stations. They scanned more than a thousand CCTV footage to get a clue about the accused.

The accused Laxmi was identified and seen in the footage standing along with her three accomplices. The police checked the records and came to know that Laxmi had a previous criminal record. The police said that they raided the house of Laxmi in Delhi`s Anand Parbat area and she was arrested from there.

During questioning, she broke down and confessed that she and her accomplices were involved in several theft cases as well as targeting women commuters on the Delhi Metro. Later, at her instance, her three accomplices were also arrested.

(With inputs from IANS)