2 boys in Delhi attempt to break ATM, say needed money to pay off blackmailer

Two frightened boys told police that they were blackmailed into committing the crime after five men threatened to circulate an objectionable video.

Minutes before their production in the juvenile court in an ATM theft case last Friday, two frightened boys told police that they were blackmailed into committing the crime after five men threatened to circulate an objectionable video.

The five accused were booked under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act at Jamia Nagar police station.

It took the duo nearly two days to reveal that they were assaulted and robbed by the men, before being stripped naked and their video recorded on Wednesday last week.

Police probed the allegations, which they found to be true, and arrested all the men over four days between Saturday and Tuesday.

The main accused was identified Raju (full name and age not disclosed by police). Police did not identify the other four accused.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to robbery and criminal intimidation and the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act at Jamia Nagar police station.

Late on Wednesday night, police nabbed the minors while they trying to break open the ATM in south Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. The boys, aged 14 and 15,were attempting to steal ₹5,000, which they were asked to arrange by the accused, said a senior police officer.

“We have caught Raju and four other suspects,” said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), on Tuesday.

According to the police, the men targeted the minor boys, who work at a shop in Jamia Nagar, when they were near a burial ground in the neighbourhood during their work break at around 9.30pm on Wednesday.

The older boy, in his statement to the police, said that the men arrived at the spot, placed a butcher’s knife on the neck of the younger boy, held him by his arm, and marched them to a sealed building nearby.

There, they allegedly robbed ₹2,050 from the younger boy. The boys were then stripped naked and their video recorded by the men, who allegedly threatened them to arrange ₹5,000 over the next five days or their video would be circulated.

The boys were also allegedly kicked and punched. But their cries for help brought to the spot a local resident, who rescued the boys.

The older boy, in his statement to the police, said that he and his friend got the idea to target the ATM on spotting a booth without any security guard.

“We thought that the cash would be below the ATM and we began shaking the machine vigorously,” the boy said about the alleged theft that they attempted a little after Wednesday midnight.

The act, however, alerted the bank officials who informed the police, and a team soon arrived at the spot and nabbed the suspects. Since, they didn’t reveal the alleged blackmail to the police, they booked for theft at the time, officers said.

It was on Friday, while being produced before the Juvenile Justice Board that they revealed the incident.

Their allegation was corroborated by the local who rescued the boys. While the local said that one of the accused, Raju, lives in the area and has a criminal past, police did not share any details in this regard.

The theft case against the boys, meanwhile, continues for now, said the DCP.