A 20-year-old food delivery man has been arrested for allegedly stealing mobile phones, laptops and cash from paying guest accommodations in south Delhi's Munirka area.
Noor Islam alias Rahul was arrested on April 4 from the area, police said.
The accused would usually steal during the early hours while collecting used tiffin boxes when the residents of the PGs would be half-asleep and leave their doors unlocked, said additional DCP (South) Chinmoy Biswal.
"Noor started stealing mobile phones, wallets, cash, etc. from such unsuspecting students. He is acutely familiar with the topography of the village and many residents were known to him. They always found him affable and good-mannered, and thus he never came under suspicion," said the officer.
With his arrest, police claimed to have solved 17 cases of burglaries and thefts, most of which had been reported by students living in rented accommodations.
It is a common sight throughout the Munirka locality to see tiffin boxes left at the doorstep by students who do not wish to be disturbed early.
"Since the beginning of the New Year, a number of burglaries had been reported from Munirka. Since most of these incidents had happened around the same time when scores of delivery boys come to pick up tiffins delivered the previous nights, informers were deployed, and a special team was formed," said the officer.
On April 4, while patrolling in Munirka, the police team was alerted by an informer about a delivery boy carrying a laptop.
It was found that the laptop had been stolen from a hostel room in Munirka. The accused belongs to West Bengal and had been working as a delivery boy for various local eateries.
Two laptops and six mobile phones have been recovered from the accused's rented accommodation in Munirka.
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