Five held for drugging, robbing passengers in Delhi

Five members of a gang have been arrested from the capital for robbing bus passengers by drugging them with sedated drinks, Delhi Police said on Wednesday.

Naseem, 35, and Niyaz Firoz, 32, were arrested on Thursday from Delhi's Ambedkar bus terminus while his associates Dilshad, 28, Nadeem, 30, and Yaqub, 40, were arrested later from their hideouts in the city.

Police said the arrested individuals have been involved in more than 10 cases of drugging and robbing people.

According to police, the gang on April 7 targeted Shailesh Seth, a deputy engineer in the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited.

One of the accused, police said, offered Seth to share a TSR on half-half basis when he reached at the Sarai Kale Khan bus terminus.

"The accused bought a bottle of cold drink on way to Noida and offered it to Seth. He along with his associates robbed Seth when he became unconscious after drinking the sedated cold drink," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said.

Yadav said the accused specially used to target passengers near railways stations, Inter State Bus Terminuses and the airport.

"The accused collect 'ATIVAN' from medical store on false pretext and mix it in cold drinks and offer it to passenger in such a manner that he is unable to refuse. After consuming the sedated drink, the passenger becomes unconscious within 10 minutes," Yadav said.

"Firoz posed as TSR driver while Naseem and Yaqub always posed as co-travellers. Dilshad and Nadeem follow the TSR on a motorcycle to help them provide back -up," Yadav added.