Masked thieves new worry for Delhi cops?

NEW DELHI: Under normal circumstances, coming out on the city streets wearing a face mask at night would be grounds for suspicion. But with many people now wearing all sorts of face-covering to prevent transmitting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), criminals appear to have capitalised on the ‘new normal’.

One of such incidents that came to light recently when a 32-year-old pilot with SpiceJet Airlines was robbed of his wallet at gunpoint and knifepoint by some bike-borne men wearing face masks at the IIT-Delhi flyover in Southwest Delhi around 1 am Wednesday last week.   

Yuvraj Tewatia was in his office cab and on the way to Indira Gandhi International Airport from his house in Faridabad when the group of masked men on motorcycles blocked his way and forcibly stopped his car. According to the police complaint, the accused broke the windows of the car using rods, robbed his belongings, and took away the cash that he was carrying.

Although the Delhi Police has arrested three people for allegedly looting the pilot, miscreants in masks may pose a new challenge for the police in the city.  DCP, Dwarka, Anto Alphonse, however, the department is prepared to deal with such criminals and has decided to increase patrolling on the wee hours and deploy police personnel at vulnerable areas of the city.He said the police has already prepared a plan tackle with crimes such as pick-pocketing, snatching, robbery and others.

“Criminals wearing face masks may pose a challenge, but the police have been dealing with such crimes for long. The circumstances may be different, but not such activities,” the DCP said.

Alphonse added that the police are keeping a close eye on vehicles and if any of them crosses a particular location very frequently, then the officer-in-charge immediately stops that vehicle and questions the driver. More than 300 prisoners were released on emergency bail and hundreds of criminals were released on parole due to the COVID-19.

“A street crime plan is already in place. Till now, we have been focusing more on the lockdown-related patrolling. The crime rate was also dropped during this period. Now, the police will completely focus on criminal activities,” said DCP, central, Sanjay Bhatia.