Six men have been arrested in Central Delhi for allegedly robbing labourers coming from Gulf countries on the pretext of providing them with COVID-19 negative reports, the police said on Monday.
The accused — Vijay Bhan Pandey, Deepak, Sanjeev Kumar, Harish Singh, Raju Shah and Sunder — told the victims that to travel by train, they need a COVID negative report and the one provided by the Delhi airport was invalid.
Complainant Mohammad Wahi Vasi, a labourer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday had returned to India to visit his hometown in West Bengal (W.B.) along with four others. After landing at Delhi airport, they headed towards New Delhi Railway Station.
At the station, they were approached by a man who told them that to travel by train, they require a negative COVID report. To this, Mr. Vasi told them that they already had the one provided at the Delhi airport. The accused then told him that the airport report was not valid for train travel.
The victims were then taken to an office in Paharganj where they were informed that their reports will be ready by next day. They were also told that their train to Kolkata will depart at 12.30 p.m. and they can collect their reports by 11.30 a.m. from the office. The accused had also arranged night accommodation for them.
On Saturday at 11.30 a.m., the victims reached the office where six persons were present. They were shown their reports and asked to pay 897 Saudi Riyal. When they refused to pay, one of the accused took out a countrymade pistol while another took out a knife. The complainants were made hostages and beaten up.
The accused robbed them of their 3,500 Saudi Riyal and ₹17,970 along with other valuables. The accused later threatened the complainants with dire consequences and snatching of their passports if they approach the police.
It was revealed that the accused had robbed hundreds of people coming from the Gulf with similar modus operandi in the past year.
