This gang hired kids to steal items at railway stations

NEW DELHI: It would take three seconds for this gaggle of children to remove a wallet from a passing pocket or snatch a mobile phone and flee. Their nuisance has come to an end with Delhi Police busting a “snatching syndicate” that deployed children to steal valuables from passengers at railway stations and bus stops.
The syndicate was exposed when a juvenile was apprehended on Monday from Anand Vihar bus stand with a stolen mobile phone. During questioning, he told the cops that he worked for Raj Kumar, who led a gang that included Anil, Govind, Yogesh, Ankit and Nasir. The minor also admitted to the involvement of other children of his age in the racket.

Based on this information, a team led by Mukesh Kumar, SHO of Vivek Vihar, raided the hideouts of Kumar and his associates and arrested them. Nupur Prasad, DCP (Shahdara), said on Thursday that over 40 mobile phones and around Rs 4.7 lakh in cash were recovered from the gang.

Delhi Police has registered a case and invoked Section 83.2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which provides punishment with imprisonment for a person employing a juvenile for criminal activities. Kumar apparently trained the children as pickpockets and snatchers, and posted teams of three-four kids at busy places such as Anand Vihar bus terminal and Rajiv Chowk metro station.

Police officers disclosed that Kumar had 16 criminal cases against his name. His earned a reputation as a tough criminal in his locality of Jawala Nagar in east Delhi and attracted admirers among the youth. “He recruited minors from impoverished families from the area’s slums to take advantage of a legal provision in the Juvenile Justice Act,” an officer said. Even if the youngsters were nabbed during the act of stealing from someone, they were usually released within 24 hours under the provisions of the JJ Act.

Teenaged supervisors ensured that the children did not abscond with the stolen booty. The kids were given specific roles according to their talent. One was trained to choke the target using a special technique. Another youngster, who had slender fingers, slid wallets and mobile phones out of the targets’ pockets. “The juveniles then handed over the stolen goods to the supervisors,” Prasad revealed. Each child was paid Rs 200-300 every week.

The cops said that Kumar had studied up to Class VI. He is married and is the father of three children.