Housewife, 2 juveniles held for burglary
Delhi police have arrested a housewife who used to send her 13-year-old son to commit burglaries in flats in Kalkaji.
Delhi police have arrested a housewife who used to send her 13-year-old son to commit burglaries in flats in Kalkaji.
Police have also arrested a 20-year-old boy who is doing graduation from Delhi University’s School of Correspondence. Police said the woman along with the boy used to identify houses and then send juveniles to commit burglaries. Two juveniles have also been caught.
“They were arrested in connection with the burglaries in DDA flats at Kalkaji, southeast Delhi. The gang was run by Poonam Malhotra, 38, a housewife. She used to take her son and her neighbour’s son to commit burglaries,” said a senior police officer. The second arrested person is one Shashank Srivastava who was caught from Rajiv Gandhi Park, Kalkaji.
“Acting on a tip-off, we first arrested Shashank Srivastava. He led us to Poonam and the two juveniles. Poonam, who headed the gang, told us she had employed her son in her gang to commit burglaries in the area,” Ajay Chaudhry, additional commissioner of police (southeast) said. Interestingly, the woman’s husband who runs a cloth shop in the area was not aware of the racket.
“Her son studied in a government school and when he returned from school, or when school was closed, she would take him along with her to commit the burglaries. During summer vacations, she has committed several burglaries. Her son used to enter houses and pick electronic items,” he added. Five stolen laptops and three mobile phones have been recovered from their possession.
“Poonam is a housewife with two children. She incorporated her son in the gang and used him to commit burglaries. The juveniles used to sneak into open houses and take away electronic goods particularly laptops and cell phones,” he added. Srivastava used to recce the area, spot the houses to be targeted and gives a cover to juveniles.