Man robbed of mobile, Rs 2,000 during shared ride; fifth case this month in Gurugram

The victim, Indrajeet, a resident of Lakhuwas village in Sohna, was left off at an isolated place by the accused after the robbery, police said.

A man was allegedly assaulted and robbed of his mobile phone and Rs 2,000 after he was offered a shared ride in a cab by four people, the police said on Wednesday. This is the fifth such reported incident in Gurugram this month.

Commuters waiting for cab at NH 48 near Udyog Vihar, in Gurgaon. Five cases of lift-and-loot have been reported in Gurugram in January, 2019. (HT File)

The victim, Indrajeet, 31, a resident of Lakhuwas village in Sohna, was later left off at an isolated place by the accused, Arvind Dahiya, station house officer of Sohna City police station, said.

An FIR was registered under Section 379A (snatching) of the Indian Penal Code at City Sohna police station. “We are yet to find any CCTV footage of the incident, but we have some idea about the accused,” the SHO said.

Around 10pm on Monday, Indrajeet was on his way to the night shift at an automobile company he works at, when the incident happened. “I was waiting near Sohna City police station when a cab stopped near me. There were two people already sitting in the car and the driver said that he could take two more people,” the man told the police.

A while after Indrajeet boarded, they tied a piece of cloth across his eyes and started assaulting him, the police said. The accused snatched a mobile phone and Rs 2,000 away from him and left him at an isolated place.

Though a gang with a similar operation style was arrested by Gurugram Police on Tuesday, the SHO said that this was done by a different gang.

Lift-and-loot gang held

The police on Tuesday arrested four members of a gang allegedly involved in assaulting and looting people after offering them shared rides in cabs. The police said the accused men had confessed to involvement in at least three such cases in the city.

Subhash Boken, spokesperson, Gurugram police, said two crime teams had arrested the accused men from Bilaspur after a tip-off on Tuesday.

“The accused men are historysheeters. The gang used to target commuters near Iffco Chowk and Rajeev Chowk on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and rob them after offering them a lift,” Boken said.

A case was registered against the accused men under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act at Kherki Daula police station on Tuesday, the police said.