If it weren’t for them...

They risked their lives once, and would love to do it again — all in a bid to prevent crime in their own little, but unique ways.

They risked their lives once, and would love to do it again — all in a bid to prevent crime in their own little, but unique ways.

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If it weren’t for Yogindra Pal Sharma (34), a cyber café owner from Munirka, the country might have had suffered terrorist attacks.

Sharma was instrumental in leading the South District police to two people allegedly responsible for making duplicate Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) identification cards eight months ago.

“They were using a computer in my café to make fake MHA identity cards. I got suspicious by their actions and verified the details on the IDs they had given me,” he said.

After Sharma realised that the details on the IDs were fake, he alerted the local police.

“The duo was apprehended within a week,” he smiled and added, “I’m proud that I was able to do whatever little I could to help my country.”

Twenty-year-old Vikas Singh, on the other hand, led the police to a trio of robbers whose targeted auto rickshaw drivers like him in the dead of night.

“Around two months ago, I was going from Sarai Kale Khan to my auto stand in Vasant Kunj,” he said. Around 2 a.m., Singh was suddenly stopped by three young men, who wanted to go to R.K. Puram.

“As we approached R.K. Puram, the men suddenly overpowered me and robbed me at gunpoint,” he said.

Though Singh later realised that the gun was a fake, he was forced to part with the Rs 600 he had earned throughout the day. But he got his revenge the very next day.

“I was going home when I saw the three men again. I chased them and, even though two ran away, was able to catch one of them. I handed him over to the police,” he said.

Eleven such heroes were felicitated by the South District division of the Delhi Police at a police community interaction held at Dogra Auditorium at IIT Delhi on Friday.

Among the latest to enter their ranks was Sandeep Sharma (18).

A resident of Lodhi Road, Sharma outsmarted a gang of thieves who had broken into his neighbour’s home on Wednesday night.
“Since there were three of them, I decided to use my brains and not my hands,” he said.

The first year DU student made a video of the robbers, before locking them in and informing the police.

“We need a collective effort on part of both the community and the police if we want our citizens to be safe,” said HGS
Dhaliwal, deputy commissioner of police, south district, who was present on the occasion.

“Over 200 criminal cases have been solved under our Eyes and Ears Scheme since January this year,” said a senior police official.