Robbers offer lift to man on NH48, threaten to sell his kidney if he didn’t give ATM pin

According to the police, the incident took place on Sunday night when the man, Karan Malhotra, was waiting for a cab to return to his residence in Jain Park, Delhi, near a telecom service provider building on National Highway-48.

A merchandiser working with a clothing firm in DLF-4 was allegedly robbed at gunpoint on Sunday by a group of four men, who offered to drop him in a cab, said police. The robbers told the man to reveal his ATM PINs, failing which they ‘sell his kidney’, the police said.

The victim, Karan Malhotra, was waiting for a cab on NH 48 when he was offered a lift and subsequently robbed on Sunday, November 25. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

This year, at least 67 cases of theft/snatching have been registered in which the modus operandi has been similar— robbed by men in cabs offering lifts, assistant commissioner of police (crime) Shamsher Singh said.

He added that at least three crime branch teams have been deputed to specifically arrest these gangs.

“These cases are the handiwork of interstate gangs of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. We are conducting raids to arrest them,” Singh said.

According to the police, the incident took place on Sunday night when the man, Karan Malhotra, was waiting for a cab to return to his residence in Jain Park, Delhi, near a telecom service provider building on National Highway-48.

The police said that according to the victim’s statement, a White Maruti Swift, in which four men were seated, halted near him and the driver offered to drop him at Dwarka Mor.

“When the car reached Rajokri flyover, near the Gurugram-Delhi border, the car took a U-turn and a man seated on the back seat pointed a gun at him and another man snatched his mobile phone. They drove towards Iffco Chowk and threatened the victim to reveal the security codes of his three ATM cards. One of the men threatened that he would lose a kidney if he failed to comply,” a police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said.

The police said that the victim was dropped near Subhash Chowk after they withdrew ₹27,000 from his accounts and took Rs1,000 from his wallet.

“The victim said that the car did not have a number plate. Strangely, the accused men did not steal the mobile phone of the victim but returned it to him after removing the SIM card,” the official said.

A case was registered against the accused men, who are yet to be arrested, under sections 379-A (punishment for snatching), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act at sector 17/18 police station on Tuesday, the police said.