First they steal motorcycles and ride around neighbourhoods to snatch smart phones from pedestrians. Then they order goods from e-retailers through the stolen phones and rob the delivery man.
A five-member gang of teenagers in southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh amassed a fortune in five months with this modus operandi until police busted the ring and arrested three of them on Thursday.
The arrested gang-members are 18-year-old Hemant alias Laddu, Sunil and Mohit aka Tony, both aged 19. Two of their partners are on the run.
Besides bikes and phones, the booty included expensive electronic gadgets, home appliances, branded clothes, wristwatches and shoes.
The robbers placed their online order to a fake address, a trick to avoid detection and confuse the delivery man. He calls up the phone number given in the online order when he fails to locate the address. The robbers direct him to an isolated place, where they ambush and rob him.
Deputy commissioner of police (Outer) MN Tiwari said the boys were clever and tech-savvy.
“They have CCTV cameras in their homes. The live feed is connected to their mobile phones and they monitor every visitor . so that they could run during a police raid.”
