On date, woman drugs man, robs his DLF Phase 4 house

The suspects stole the man’s iPhone worth ₹1.5 lakh, ₹10,000 cash, gold chains worth ₹90,000, and withdrew ₹2.68 lakh from an ATM with his debit card

A woman met a 35-year-old man on a date, laced his drinks with sedatives, causing him to pass out for 36 hours, and then robbed his DLF Phase 4 home with the help of two associates, police officers said, adding that the three suspects were arrested on Thursday.

The woman was identified as Surabhi Singh, 32, also known as Sakshi and Payal, a resident of Chawri Bazar in Delhi. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The suspects stole the man’s iPhone worth ₹1.5 lakh, ₹10,000 cash in his wallet, two gold chains worth ₹90,000 from his house, and debit cards with which they withdrew ₹2.68 lakh from his bank account, said investigators.

The woman was identified as Surabhi Singh, 32, also known as Sakshi and Payal, a resident of Chawri Bazar in Delhi. “The woman is the mastermind of the crime. She has a master of business administration degree from a university in Pune, Maharashtra,” said Varun Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

The woman’s associates were identified as Sushil Singh, 34, of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Vishal Singh, 28, of Delhi. “The suspects confessed to the crime and have been remanded to our custody for five days. They are involved in at least nine similar cases in Gurugram and Noida,” ACP Dahiya added.

The police got on the track of the suspects after a 35-year-old man filed a complaint.

The complainant said he connected with Surabhi Singh on a dating app. According to a senior police officer associated with the case, the complainant picked up Surabhi in his car, a hatchback, from a pub in Sector 47 on October 1. He bought liquor at 10.30pm, drove to Golf Course Road, halting in a park in Sector 29, and the two started drinking together, according to the officer. However, Surabhi had secretly slipped a strong sedative into the man’s drink, the senior officer said.

After the man passed out, Surabhi stole his iPhone, cash, credit and debit cards, and house keys from his wallet, said the senior officer. She called her two associates and leaving the car at the scene, they went to the man’s house in Ridgewood Estate in DLF Phase 4. They stole two gold chains and then used one of the stolen debit cards to withdraw ₹2.68 lakh from an ATM the next day, said investigators.

According to investigators, the man, who had been passed out in his car, regained consciousness on October 3. When he realised his phone, cash, cards, and house keys were missing, and on asking passersby the time that it had been 36 hours since he had drinks with Surabhi, he rushed home to find the doors unlocked and the rooms in disarray.

The man then approached the police, and on October 10, a first information report was registered against Surabhi Singh at DLF police station in Sector 29 under sections 328 (causing hurt using poison) and 380 (theft from dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code.

The police tracked down the suspects through technical surveillance. None of the valuables or money stolen by the suspects has been recovered yet.

“The suspects had targeted many men after calling them to a pub/ restaurant in Gurugram’s Sector 29, lacing their drinks with sedatives, and then robbing them of their cash and valuables,” said ACP Dahiya.

According to the police, the suspects have robbed more than 12 men in this manner.