5 juvenile gang members held

Delhi Police on Friday apprehended five members of a juvenile gang that allegedly set houses in government colonies in south Delhi on fire after burgling them, police said.

Delhi Police on Friday apprehended five members of a juvenile gang that allegedly set houses in government colonies in south Delhi on fire after burgling them, police said.

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Thirteen members of the gang had fled from a juvenile home in Muherjee Nagar in northwest Delhi last month after scaling one of the walls razed down for a Commonwealth Games project.

Police said one of them is wanted in at least six cases of theft and arson. When the police arrested him, he was wearing a Levis jeans and an Allen Solly shirt.

“We have not been able to apprehend the main suspects but these boys are also active members of the gang and have fled from juvenile homes twice,” a senior police officer said.

Police said the delinquent juveniles had made a plan to escape from the home on February 2 when they were returning from a juvenile justice board’s court near Ambedkar stadium in central Delhi.

After fleeing from the home, they boarded a Blueline bus bound for Tilak Nagar. They robbed a bus conductor the same night, police said.

On February 23, the gang set the house of Parvesh Soni, a government employee, in Sarojini Nagar on fire before decamping with cash and valuables. One of the apprehended juveniles reportedly told the police he had taken to crime as his girlfriend wanted expensive gifts. Every time the members of the gang are apprehended they challenge the police that they will strike again.

“The juvenile gang’s leader committed his first crime at the age of 10. His father is an alcoholic and apparently drove him to run away from home. He got hooked to gambling and drugs soon after he left home and committed his first burglary at the age of 10,” said the officer.