Two teenagers, who allegedly snatched a cellphone because they wanted to order food for free andlater robbed a cab driver of his vehicle for a joyride, have been caught, police said on Tuesday.
The nabbed teenagers, both residents of a village in Dwarka, are 19-year-old Sahil and his juvenile friend. Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), said a bandage on the arm of the juvenile accused gave away their identities.
The police said that the two would often drink together. “When they were done with their drinks in the early hours of Sunday, they longed for good food. But they had no money. They decided to rob a mobile phone to order food so that they could escape without paying,” said the DCP.
The police said that the two allegedly snatched a mobile phone from a motorcycle rider in Dwarka Sector 23B and ordered food. “They fled after taking delivery of the food. Once they were done eating, they wanted to go on a joyride.The boy expressed his sadness that they did not have a car. So, Sahil offered to rob any car of the boy’s choice. All that the boy had to do was to point at a car on the road,” said the DCP.
The duo settled for a WagonR that was actually an off-duty cab. “They stopped the car driver on the pretext of asking directions and used the opportunity to snatch the vehicle keys. They then stuffed the driver in the back seat and Sahil took to the wheel. They had also robbed the driver’s mobile phone,” said the officer.
The driver was dumped near an isolated spot sometime later even as the duo drove around on west Delhi roads until they were tired. “When they were done, they abandoned the car near a temple outside their village and went home to sleep. They thought they could get away as they did not have a criminal record,” said the DCP.
But the two robbery victims had noticed that the juvenile’s right forearm was bandaged. The police alerted their informers to report any suspects with a bandaged arm. One informer soon called the police to say that he had spotted a boy with a bandaged arm.
The DCP said that it was the same boy involved in the robbery. The two stolen mobile phones were recovered from him. The car too was found outside their village. The DCP said that the boy led them to his associate, Sahil.