‘Cooler Gang’ kingpin arrested in south Delhi

Just because of this one burglar, residents of Amar Colony, Sriniwaspuri and East of Kailash have been avoiding switching on their desert coolers, even in this scorcher of a summer

Just because of this one burglar, residents of Amar Colony, Sriniwaspuri and East of Kailash have been avoiding switching on their desert coolers, even in this scorcher of a summer.

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If the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police is to be believed, 45-year-old Vijay Shankar Shukla found a unique way to commit burglaries.

He would put chemicals into desert coolers, which once switched on, would make residents unconscious. According to police, Shukla successfully committed 12 burglaries using the same modus operandi. The Anti Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch arrested him from the Nehru Place bus terminus on Friday.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Neeraj Tyagi said, “Recently, a series of night burglaries were reported by residents who said they would become unconscious because of chemical substances in desert coolers. Fear of the ‘Cooler Gang’ had forced the people to stop using desert coolers and sweat it out in this hot weather.” Police said acting on specific information, it laid a trap for Shukla near the Nehru Place bus terminus, after which he was arrested.

Thakur added that during interrogation, Shukla disclosed he hails from District Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh and was residing in Okhla Estate area, where he worked as a loader at the Okhla Subzi Mandi.

Shukla would commit thefts alone because he believed that would help him evade the police. Also, he would not have to share the booty with anybody.