Gang poisoning e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi busted

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) The Delhi Police have busted a gang of thieves, who targetted e-rickshaw drivers in the national capital, and steal their rickshaws after poisoning them, said a police official.

Two accused identified as Sachin (35) and Tasleem (48) were arrested in this connection.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), R. Sathiyasundaram said an information regarding one unconscious person lying at a Janta flat, GTB Enclave, New Delhi, was received at GTB Enclave police station on April 23.

The unconscious person was admitted to GTB hospital and during treatment, he was declared dead.

Later, it was found that the deceased was an e-rickshaw driver and some unknown persons had poisoned him and took away his e-rickshaw.

The police registered a case under sections 328, 379 and 304 of the Indian Penal Code at the GTB Enclave police station and took up the investigation.

"Incidents of poisoning with similar modus operandi were reported in the area of trans-Yamuna, in which two criminals were studied targeting e-rickshaw drivers and committing theft of their e-rickshaw after poisoning them," the DCP added.

During the course of investigation, a police team carried out mapping of the route of the e-rickshaw and checked more than 100 CCTV cameras of the entire route (around 10 km), following which one scooty was found continuously chasing the e-rickshaw.

"Thereafter, an investigation was carried out to locate this scooty and the accused persons but it was found that the registered owner sold this scooty to accused Sachin through a dealer. The purchasing documents used by the accused Sachin were obtained and one mobile number was found on its technical analysis, one more mobile number of accused Sachin was traced," the senior police official said.

He added that on analysis of the second mobile number of the accused Sachin, it was found that the location of this number was present at the place of incident and continuously moving with the GPS logs of the e-rickshaw.

The police laid a trap at Sherpur Chowk, Karawal Nagar, New Delhi, and both accused persons Sachin and Tasleem were apprehended.

During interrogation, the accused duo disclosed that they used to purchase a medicine tablet from different medical stores and mix it in different sweets and cold drinks.

Thereafter, the accused used to travel on a scooty and target e-rickshaw drivers at different auto stands.

The DCP said initially, the accused used to fix their target but later they chose their destination in such a manner that at least one place of worship could come on the way.

"Thereafter, one accused hired an e-rickshaw for that destination place and another one was waiting outside the worship place. When the e-rickshaw reached there, the second accused used to offer sweets to his associate as a 'prasad', who also insisted e-rickshaw drivers to eat," the official added.

When e-rickshaw drivers became unconscious, the accused duo pushed the drivers adjacent to parks or deserted roads and took away their e-rickshaw and other materials and then sold them to scrap dealers.

Both accused Sachin and Tasleem were further subjected to interrogation during which they disclosed their involvements in 15 incidents of poisoning under jurisdiction of Seemapuri, Vivek Vihar, Mansarovar Park, Bhajanpura, Jafrabad, Karawal Nagar, Jyoti Nagar, apart from the above place.