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Outside GTB Hospital, snatchers target man waiting to receive Covid-19 infected father’s body
The man, 24-year-old Pankaj Kumar, a resident of west Delhi’s Madipur, was waiting for relatives to arrive and was making calls to friends when the snatcher struck around 6am.
Motorcycle-borne men snatched the mobile phone of a man preparing to receive the body of his 44-year-old father, who had died of Covid-19, outside east Delhi’s GTB Hospital on Monday morning, said police.
The man, 24-year-old Pankaj Kumar, a resident of west Delhi’s Madipur, was waiting for relatives to arrive and was making calls to friends when the snatcher struck around 6am.
A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 379 (theft) and 356 (assault or criminal force to commit theft) has been registered at the GTB Enclave police station, said Amit Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara), adding they were scanning CCTV footage to identify suspects.
Pankaj said his father, Ramesh Kumar, an employee at a footwear firm, fell ill around 10 days ago. “He was weak and had stopped having food. When I took him to a hospital in West Delhi, he was referred to GTB Hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19 last week,” said Pankaj, who works at an optical showroom in Connaught Place and lives with his parents and two siblings in their west Delhi home.
Ramesh died on Monday, 2 am. Pankaj was completing formalities to receive the body, and had arranged a cab for his mother and siblings to be with him.
“I was outside the hospital’s gate number six and was speaking to a friend to come and help me with cremation when two men on a motorcycle snatched my phone and fled,” said Pankaj. “At that moment, I felt it was the end of the world for me. It felt as if all the troubles of life were meant for me.”
The snatched phone, was just a month-old, apart from being a link to his family and friends, also had his father’s Aadhar card image that he needed printed to receive the body.
A nearby tea seller offered his mobile phone to call the police. “I first brought out my hand sanitiser and disinfected my hands before accepting his phone. It would have been unfair to put a person helping me at risk,” said Pankaj.
Pankaj eventually managed to establish contact with his family, complete all formalities and receive the, and finally cremate his father. “We have some clues about the suspects after working on the ground,” the DCP said.
