Couple arrested for series of snatching incidents

The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman for allegedly committing a series of snatchings in the national capital in the last

The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman for allegedly committing a series of snatchings in the national capital in the last three months.

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The police said the two suspects were addicted to drugs and would snatch mobile phones from people before selling them to buy narcotics.

The police identified the suspects as Arjun alias Chhanga, who is from Paharganj, and Vaishali Kaushal, who is a tattoo artist. They had first met in December at Kaushal’s tatto studio in Karolbagh where Arjun, who has several criminal cases against his name, had come to get inked, the police said. They added that the two suspects soon realised they had a lot in common, and moved in together three months later.

After moving in together, the couple began snatching mobile phones for money they needed to buy drugs, the police said. However, the nationwide lockdown had forced them to stop their criminal activities, they added.

The couple allegedly resumed snatchings last week, soon after the government eased the lockdown norms allowing people to step out of their homes and open standalone shops and run offices with one-third staff members.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Sanjay Bhatia, said within a week, the couple targeted six pedestrians, in central, north and west Delhi. They used to ride a scooter and snatch mobile phones and bags of their victims, he said. However, the couple ran out of luck on Saturday, when a team from the Desh Bandhu Gupta (DBG) Road police station intercepted them near Kishanganj railway colony near north Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla. The two suspects had gone there to allegedly sell the stolen phones. The couple had already committed two snatchings in Khyala and Subzi Mandi in less than three hours, before being caught around noon, said a police officer involved in the operation.

“ We seized four stolen mobile phones and a stolen scooter from the couple. Arjun, who was previously involved in over 31 crimes, used to ride the scooter, while Vaishali rode pillion and snatched mobile phones from pedestrians,” said DCP Bhatia.

The police officer added that several teams were formed to nab the suspects after snatchings were reported from central Delhi areas. Statements of a few victims of snatchings and the footage from CCTV cameras installed around the crime scenes had pointed towards the involvement of a couple riding a white scooter in the snatchings.

“Our teams activated the criminal intelligence network that helped them zero in on the young couple living in Paharganj area. The couple’s movements were tracked and they were caught from Kishanganj railway colony,” a police officer said.

The officer said that the couple used to live on rent in a room in Shalimar Bagh area in northwest Delhi, where they used to keep the stolen property. The couple told the police that they had committed more than a dozen snatchings before the lockdown was announced on March 24. They used to sell the stolen phones to a shopkeeper in Karol Bagh.

“We have identified the man who used to buy the stolen property. He will be arrested soon,” the officer added.