Burqa-clad women held for lifting handbags from shops

They would swoop down on swanky shops dressed in black burqas, not to buy anything but to make off with the handbags of customers.

They would swoop down on swanky shops dressed in black burqas, not to buy anything but to make off with the handbags of customers.

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Lajpat Nagar police have arrested a 30-year-old woman and her niece in connection with incidents of theft at shops in posh markets of Delhi. Rani, also known as Saira, and her niece Nazma are residents of Shastri Park in northeast Delhi.

The two were held red-handed on Sunday evening while trying to flee from a jewellery store in Lajpat Nagar market with the handbag of a woman from East of Kailash. The handbag contained a cell phone, two debit cards, some cash and an identity card, police said.

“The woman had come to the market with her mother and husband. They were in a shop to buy some jewellery,” said a police officer.

“She had kept her handbag nearby. Then, a burqa-clad woman entered the shop, lifted the bag and rushed out of the shop,” added the officer.

Her husband was the first to realise that the bag was missing. He raised an alarm and ran behind the burqa-clad woman.“She handed the bag over to another woman, who was also in a burqa, and asked her to flee. But she was chased down by the police,” added the officer. Initially, the officer said, the two women pleaded innocence but after later they confessed to their crime. “A probe revealed that they have been involved in similar cases. They have been arrested,” said the officer.