JOIN US3 held for theft in train
A “change in attitude” of Delhi Police towards vagabonds in the city after the gang rape of a Danish woman has led to the arrest of three people involved in the armed robbery of passengers of a halted train near Old Delhi Junction a few days ago.
On the night of January 15, six armed dacoits had robbed passengers of a train of valuables and cash. The incident had taken place at a poorly-lit stretch of railway tracks near Yamuna Loha Bridge between Shahdara Junction and Old Delhi Junction.
Those who resisted the robbery were also beaten up by the assailants who were armed with knives. The robbers had taken advantage of poor lighting and decamped with the loot.
Following the recent gang rape, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police had been keeping a watch on vagabonds who lived near railway stations. On Friday, police learnt that the gang involved in this robbery would assemble near Kodiya Pul near Old Delhi railway station.
A trap was laid and three of the six members, all vagabonds living near various railways stations in the city and allegedly involved in the robbery, were apprehended.
Five mobile phones, allegedly robbed during the recent incident, were also recovered from them.
Police said that the gang has been involved in several other train robberies in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
They would target train compartments with less number of passengers. After looting them, they would jump from the train before it reached the next station.
A senior police officer of the crime branch said that police did not pay much heed to the vagabonds earlier because of which the number of crimes committed by them kept increasing.
“The National Human Rights Commission and other such social agencies would object if we picked up the vagabonds for any crime.
This hampered our investigations and encouraged them. But after the Danish gang rape case, they were under surveillance. This change in attitude helped us bust this gang,” said the officer.