Bike taxi driver robs woman in Noida, held after encounter

The woman got robbed just as she got off a bike taxi and was completing the payment of the trip near the Sector 52 Metro station

Noida: Two days after a bike taxi driver allegedly robbed a woman passenger of her valuables including iPhone, laptop and wallet in an area falling under Sector 49 police station, the Noida police has arrested the man following an encounter on Friday, officers said.

Police received a tip off that the suspect might travel from Sector 51 to Sector 76 metro station service road, and teams were deployed to nab him. (HT Photo)

Police also confiscated the valuables from the suspect, identified as Pramod Singh (34), a resident of Mamura village in Sector 66. He suffered a bullet injury on the leg during the exchange of fire, and is currently hospitalised, they added.

According to the complainant, Adhira Saxena (23), a resident of a high-rise society in Greater Noida west, got robbed on Wednesday (May 29) as she got off a bike taxi and was completing the payment of the trip near the Sector 52 Metro station.

“I regularly take a bike taxi from my residence in Greater Noida west to go to Sector 52 metro station around 10am. However, on May 29 morning, as I got down from the bike taxi… the driver suddenly snatched my iPhone, laptop bag and fled,” said Saxena, who works with a PR firm in Delhi.

“Stunned, I tried going after the biker but he sped too fast. As passersby watched the incident, an auto driver dropped me back home,” said Saxena.

On Thursday, her father, an IT firm employee in Noida, filed a complaint and an FIR was registered at the Sector 49 police station. A case under section 392 (robbery) of Indian Penal Code was lodged and the investigation was taken up.

Police received a tip off that the suspect might travel from Sector 51 to Sector 76 metro station service road, and teams were deployed to nab him, said officers.

“As the suspect approached on the bike registered with an app-based taxi service, the police party tried to stop him. He abandoned the bike and ran while opening fire at police. During retaliation, a bullet hit him on the leg,” said deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Manish Mishra.

“He was apprehended and the complainant’s iPhone, laptop bag, laptop, credit and debit cards and laptop charger were recovered from his possession,” the officer said, adding that the man has been admitted to a private hospital in Noida and after being discharged, he will be taken into police custody.

Meanwhile, the woman lauded the police action saying that she wasn’t sure of getting her valuables back. “On Friday when I got to know that the police have recovered my laptop and mobile phone, I was relieved and happy,” she said.