A 54-year-old man, who used to allegedly rob people by offering them biscuits laced with intoxicants, has been nabbed from the inter-state bus terminus in Sector 17, Chandigarh. As per the police, he has been active for over a decade and has targeted at least 100 people using the same modus operandi. He used to tell the victims that the biscuits were prashad from Vaishno Devi, to win over their confidence.
The accused has been identified as Krishan Lal, 54, a native of Jammu. He was nabbed after an auto-rickshaw driver approached the police after being robbed in a similar fashion.
Complainant, Sagar, 23, told the police that on the night of December 17, he had picked up a male passenger from the Sector 43 bus stand and dropped him off at the bus stand in Sector 17. The passenger offered him a biscuit. After eating it, he fell unconscious. The next morning when he woke up, he realised his purse, which was carrying about ₹3,500 and some important documents, was missing.
Following his complaint, the UT police nabbed the accused from the gates of the Sector 17 bus stand on the basis of a tip-off.
Police found a strip of Lorazepam tablets and seven packets of Bonn Biscuits in his possession. They have also recovered a stolen mobile phone, a purse and ₹1,500 from him.
{{/usCountry}}Police found a strip of Lorazepam tablets and seven packets of Bonn Biscuits in his possession. They have also recovered a stolen mobile phone, a purse and ₹1,500 from him.
{{/usCountry}}A case under Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and Section 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused.
He will be produced in the court on Sunday.
How he won over the confidence of his victims
During preliminary probe, the accused told the police that he used to grind the Lorazepam tablets and mix it in the biscuits. He used to stack the biscuits in such a manner that the odd-numbered biscuits were clean while the even-numbered ones were laced with sedatives. He would consume one himself and then offer to his victims, so they don’t suspect something fishy.
He used to target people mainly from UP, Bihar and Jammu, telling them that the biscuits were prashad from Vaishno Devi.
The accused specifically targeted inter-state passengers, who boarded buses from different bus stands in Delhi and Chandigarh.
Superintendent of police, Ketan Bansal said, “Krishan has been active for the last 10 years at ISBT-17 and confessed that he had committed the crime near about 100 times.”
How he got the idea
Investigations pointed out that Krishan started robbing people after he was robbed in similar manner in Ludhiana.
“After being robbed, he tracked the accused and trapped him. But instead of informing the police, he learnt the tricks of trade from the accused and started targeting people to make easy money,” said Om Prakash, station house officer, Sector 17, Chandigarh.
So far, he was arrested only once in a case in Sirhind. SHO Om Prakash added, “The accused keeps shuttling between Delhi and Chandigarh to avoid being caught. We have shared information with Delhi police to get details of cases against him.”
Has 3 wives
A native of Jammu, he reportedly has three wives—one stays in Jammu, the second is in Punjab while the third is in Meghalaya.