Two snake charmers were arrested for allegedly posing as 'sadhus' and robbing people by scaring them with snakes, police said on Monday.
The two men robbed several commuters travelling in cars or auto rickshaws by letting loose snakes on them at traffic signals, they said.
Police recovered two snakes from their possession and handed them over to the Wildlife Department.
Rohit Nath, 22, and Shakib Nath, 26, were produced in a city court and sent to judicial custody on Saturday, they added.
The matter came to light when a 36-year-old Sadya Wani approached Sector 53 Police Station saying two people dressed as 'sadhus' let loose snakes on her and robbed her of Rs 2,000.
According to her complaint, the incident happened around 10.30 Friday when she was travelling in an auto-rickshaw.
The two men had approached her in the garb of 'sadhu' and asked for money near Sushant Estates in Sector 52 when the auto-rickshaw was waiting at a traffic signal it said.
"The two men set snakes on me and pulled Rs 2,000 from my purse which I had taken out to give them a coin. They fled immediately but I was left terrorised by the incident and approached the police," Wani, a resident of Ansal Sushant Estates, said in her complaint.
Police booked Rohit and Shakib under sections 392 (robbery) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC on Friday and arrested them on Saturday.
"The suspects used to come to Gurugram from Delhi and return after robbing commuters at different locations in the city by showing snakes," said Sector 53 Police Station SHO Rajender Singh.
Published 21 August 2023, 11:29 IST