Over 90% pickpockets in Delhi Metro stations are women, shows CISF data

This year, till December 15,as many as 438 women and 41 male pickpockets were apprehended from Metro stations.

Over 91% of the pickpockets caught at Metro stations are women, data provided by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) shows.

The CISF says that women pickpockets operate in gangs and usually one or two of them carry a child with them to evade suspicion. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

This year, till December 15,as many as 438 women and 41 male pickpockets were apprehended from Metro stations.

The figures provided by CISF, responsible for the security of vital economic installations, come three days after HT had reported what looked like an alleged collusion between a gang of women pickpockets and the police.

The CISF said it has intensified its drive against women pickpockets in Delhi Metro.

“Women pickpockets camouflage their intentions by deploying a clever modus operandi. They are usually accompanied by a child to evade suspicion. In most cases, it was found that the women who were apprehended, seemed the least suspicious,” a senior CISF official said.

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The rise in numbers of women pickpockets has been a challenge for the CISF. The force deploys women personnel in plain clothes to keep a check on them but lack of complaints against them lead to increase in incidents.

Recently, the CISF had unearthed a notorious gang of such women who had robbed a US-based Indian woman of her jewellery and other valuables while she was travelling in the Metro with her husband.

In order to check these crimes, CISF regularly launch special operations and deploys women and men personnel in mufti. Last year, 93% of the total pickpockets caught in the Delhi Metro were women while in 2014, the percentage of women pickpockets was about 94 per cent.

In 2013, of the total 466 pickpockets held at various Metro stations, 421 were women.