Man, son held for running gang of pickpockets

A man and his son who led a gang of pickpockets have been arrested and Rs two lakh, 11 laptops and 54 mobile phones seized from them in west Delhi's Mangolpuri area, police said on Monday.

Police said Nand Kishore, 47, and his son Subhash, 22, were arrested on Saturday from Mangolpuri when they arrived there to hand over stolen items to one of their contacts.

Police said Kishore is a history sheeter registered with the Sultanpuri police station and was involved in pickpocketing for 25 years.

"They used to buy stolen mobile phones and laptops from small-time pickpockets and sold these to their contacts at higher prices for leading a lavish lifestyle," Deputy Commissioner of Police M.N. Tiwari said.

They even employed chain-snatchers and pickpockets either on commission or salary basis, police said.

Kishore entered the world of crime in 1992 and was involved in robberies, supply of drugs and firearms, thefts and pickpocketing, Tiwari said.

As many as 62 cases of laptop thefts reported at different police stations in Delhi have been worked out with their arrest, police said.

--IANS

sp/tsb/bg