Snatchers target woman at Delhi Metro stop, threaten her with gun outside

Chasing the man, when she reached outside the Metro station, a second person allegedly showed her a pistol

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly the victim of a snatching incident in an unusual place on Saturday — inside the premises of the Jafrabad Metro station in northeast Delhi. The woman, according to her complaint to the police, ran after the man who snatched her phone, only for a second person waiting outside the Metro station to threaten her with a gun.

Snatchers target woman at Delhi Metro stop, threaten her with gun outside

Deputy commissioner of police (Metro) Ram Gopal Naik said that a case under sections 379 and 356 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered, and is being investigated by an assistant sub-inspector.

Isha Gupta, a resident of Mandawali in east Delhi, told HT that she was on her way home after work — she is a make-up artiste — at 8pm on Saturday, and had entered the Jafrabad Metro station, an elevated station on the Pink Line, when the incident occurred. “I was going up to the Metro station on the escalator, right before the baggage screening area. A man was behind me and when I took out my phone from my jacket, he snatched it. He then began running down the escalator that was going up,” she said, adding that the distance between the escalators and baggage screening is about 300 metres.

Chasing the man, when she reached outside the Metro station, a second person allegedly showed her a pistol and threatened her to go back inside. “There were no security personnel when the incident took place. I was scared -- so I didn’t take the Metro and went home in an auto-rickshaw. I told my husband and we went immediately to report the matter to the police,” she said.

Gupta alleged that when she arrived at the Metro station with her husband and made a PCR call about the theft, the police personnel who arrived began arguing about the jurisdiction of the case — whether it fell under the Jafrabad or Shastri Park police stations — and wasted precious time that could have been used to trace her mobile.

She also claimed that there was also a delay in filing a first information report (FIR), which was finally registered the next morning at Shastri Park.

A senior police officer, requesting anonymity, said the victim’s allegations regarding the non-registration of an FIR were being looked into.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security across the Delhi Metro network, said the incident happened outside the security check area, where their jurisdiction begins. “CISF personnel are present in the station starting the security checkpoint. Beyond this is commonly referred to as the unpaid area, where CISF is not present,” said a CISF officer, adding the crime scene was not covered by CCTV cameras. “During or after the incident, CISF was not called in for assistance,” he added.

However, DCP Naik said police have obtained CCTV footage in which the suspects can be seen. “Their photographs were sent for matching in the facial recognition system,” he said, adding that over 10 people have been apprehended and are being interrogated.

A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson said they were cooperating with the police in the probe. “We will share any information we have,” he said.