
Two cab drivers working with Uber were robbed and killed, allegedly by the same accused, in two different places in the national capital on Thursday night, as the curfew was on. Central district police have arrested two men and found during investigation that they, along with a third accused, booked the cabs using a stolen phone and choked the drivers to death. The motive, police believe, was robbery — the accused took three phones and Rs 600 from the victims.
When contacted, DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan said the accused have been identified as Aakash Kumar (19) and Junaid Razzak (19). The latter, police said, is allegedly a drug addict and used to commit robbery to get money for drugs. He was released from jail in a robbery case three months ago.
“The first case came to light on Friday at 8.45 am, after a PCR van noticed a WagonR parked on the roadside in Anand Parbat and a man lying unconscious inside. He was taken to RML hospital but was declared dead on arrival. No apparent injury was visible, but blood was seen coming out of his mouth. He was identified as Anil (48); his phone and wallet were missing,” the DCP said.
The central district police started an enquiry and, in the meantime, came to know that another driver, Chavvi Nath, had been found dead in Bharat Nagar. “He drove for both Uber and Ola and his i10 was found abandoned in Gulabi Bagh,” the DCP said.
Police said constable Surender and SHO Mukesh Antil scanned more than 70 CCTVs to establish their route. At both crime scenes, police found that their phones and cash were missing. “Police lodged two FIRs and approached the cab companies for details of their last booking. Their cabs were booked by a man, who informed police that his phone had been stolen on Thursday night and he had already lodged a complaint. Using technical surveillance, police identified one of the accused and apprehended him Friday evening. On his instance, his associate was apprehended. Raids are on to nab the third accused, Pritam,” a senior police officer said.
“After stealing a phone on Thursday night, the duo booked a cab at 12.30 am for IGI Terminal-2, but the driver refused. They again booked a cab from Anand Parbat, and boarded it. A while later, they strangled the driver and dumped the body on the footpath, taking the vehicle with them,” Chauhan said.
“They bought drugs from a local supplier and then booked the second cab,” said an officer.
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