NEW DELHI: Every morning, six women from a family fanned out to beg on the streets of Delhi. When night fell, they broke into shops across the city. After committing the crimes, they fled to their native Rajasthan, where they lived until their loot ran out. They then returned to the city with nefarious intent.
The group’s luck ran out when two of them were caught in different areas of Dwarka recently. An e-rickshaw driver who drove them to the crime scene and himself the son of one of the women was also arrested. The accused, according to police, are Indra, 62, Tara, 65, and e-rickshaw driver Jorawar. They lived in Uttam Nagar and Kakrola areas in Dwarka.
Police said they received a complaint about a burglary on Feb 8. Complainant Bhupender Singh received a call from his employee, Sanjay, informing him that his shop had been burgled. Upon reaching the shop, he found the shutter bent, the counter drawer open and items scattered around; Rs 10 lakh kept in the drawer was missing.
A case was registered. Sudhanshu Verma, additional DCP (North), formed a team under sub-inspector Akash Deep and led by SHO (Sadar Bazar) Sahdev Singh Tomar. After analysing the footage from over 150 CCTV cameras in the area, the team found out how the burglary was carried out. Six women were seen leaving the scene of the incident in an e-rickshaw driven by a male person.
A search operation resulted in the recovery of the e-rickshaw involved in the crime from a charging station in Uttam Nagar. The charging station owner confirmed that it was Jorawar who took the e-rickshaw at 3.30am and returned it for charging at 7.30am on the day of the burglary.
Jorawar’s phone number was used to track him and he was the first to be arrested from Nala Road in Shiv Vihar, Uttam Nagar. Confessing that he was indeed involved in the night burglary with the women, Jorawar revealed that he was the receiver of the stolen cash and after the theft, the perpetrators distributed the booty among themselves. Some of the women involved had fled to their village in Rajasthan.
Besides Jorawar, who was found to be in police records for a theft in Rajasthan, the cops also nabbed two women. Indra, Jorawar’s mother, was discovered to have been involved in a night burglary in Maidangarhi in 2022. Tara’s previous criminal antecedents are being verified, police said, adding teams are in pursuit of the remaining four women.
Investigations established the group’s modus operandi. The members worked in teams — three would cover the shop’s shutter with clothes and the other three would break into the shop.
“After the money ran out, the group members returned to Delhi by train and resumed begging in the daytime,” said a police officer. “They lived in shanties and used begging as a means to reconnaissance potential targets.”
Police have recovered Rs 3.4 lakh, the e-rickshaw used in the crimes and a chisel-like implement used in committing the crime from the trio.
