Greater Noida: Passenger asks cabbie to buy cigarette; flees with his car

A man allegedly stole a taxi on Saturday evening in Greater Noida after tricking the driver into buying cigarettes for him.

A man allegedly stole a taxi on Saturday evening in Greater Noida after tricking the driver into buying cigarettes for him.

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Noida Sector 49 resident Pralok Chand Bharadwaj was the owner of a Maruti Swift Dzire and employed a person named Raju to drive it as a taxi.

At Chi V sector that evening, a person with an injured leg approached Raju for a ride.

“The man told Raju that his mobile phone was out of charge and so he couldn’t book a cab over an app. He asked to be dropped at Dankaur railway station around 15 km away,” said Bharadwaj. The driver struck a deal for ₹300.

“The man sat next to the driver. On the way, he asked him to stop the car near a kiosk and buy him some cigarettes. Noticing that the man had an injury to the leg, Raju agreed. The car stopped near the Sirsa roundabout and Raju got out to buy the cigarettes. They were going to move again when the man said he preferred another brand. Raju again went out to the kiosk but this time had not taken the key with him,” he said.

In the police complaint, Raju said that when he went to exchange the cigarettes, “the man swiftly jumped to the driver’s seat and fled with the car.”

The driver had two mobile phones in the taxi which were also stolen. The victim informed the police with the help of some passerby informed police. A police team launched a search, but could not find the car.

Sujeet Upadhyaya, SHO Sector Beta II police station, said a case has been registered against the suspect under Section 379 (theft) of IPC. “We have launched a search to arrest the suspect,” he said.