Number of road robbery victims goes up to 17, cops struggle to check crime
According to the police complaint, the incident took place around 7.30pm on Saturday when the victim was waiting outside his office on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway for a cab to return home in Uttam Nagar, west Delhi.
On Saturday evening, a 27-year-old relationship manager, with a multinational telecommunications company, was allegedly taken hostage by a gang of four who offered him a shared cab ride between Iffco Chowk and Shankar Chowk on the expressway, beaten and robbed of Rs 1.06 lakh.
Police said the victim, who was bleeding from his nose from the alleged assault, was thrown from the car in a deserted area in Ballabgarh, Faridabad, some 45 kilometres from where he was picked up. The man’s ordeal lasted three hours, the police said Monday.
This is the 17th case of lift-and-loot in the city since the beginning of this year.
According to the police complaint, the incident took place around 7.30pm on Saturday when the victim was waiting outside his office on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway for a cab to return home in Uttam Nagar, west Delhi.
“A cab, with four men inside, stopped and offered to drop me to Dwarka Mor. Shortly after, the cab driver took a different route and the men started beating me up and snatched my wallet. They forced me to reveal the PIN of my debit card and took me to several ATMs for transactions. All this while, they asked me to kneel down in the cab. I was also asked to call my father and a friend, asking them to transfer Rs 10,000 for a medical emergency,” the victim said, adding that he was dropped near Ballabgarh, Sector 58.
Police said the accused stole the victim’s phone, laptop and withdrew Rs 70,000 from three ATMs along Sohna Road. His credit card was also stolen and transactions of Rs 26,000 were done using this card.
The victim’s father alleged that the accused told his son, while dropping him, that they would shoot him if he even turned back.
“My son took help from some people who were part of a wedding procession near Ballbagarh and informed me of what had happened. I was only able to pick him up around 4am the following morning as I couldn’t locate him,” the victim’s father said.
The father added that his son did not take a lift from any passersby after the incident.
A case was registered against unidentified accused men under sections 379-A and 34 of Indian Penal Code. Sector 17/18 station house officer Vivek Kundu said the accused were yet to be identified.
“We are trying to procure the CCTV footage of the spot and from ATMs to trace the accused,” SHO Kundu said