Three held for robbing Canadian pilot in Delhi: Police

Three men have been arrested for allegedly robbing a Canadian pilot employed with IndiGo airlines near Delhi Cantt area, police said Monday.

Mehraj Salmani, Asif and Farman, all residents of Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said.

Raids were conducted at the residence of mastermind Mehraj.

It was revealed that he, along with his two accomplices, are in police custody since July 16 at Sahibabad police station in Uttar Pradesh.

The accused were questioned at Sahibabad court.

They were arrested after they admitted to robbing the pilot last week and were taken on three days police custody.

The incident took place on the intervening night of July 12 and July 13 when Mohammad Mehdi Ghanzanfani, a captain with the airline, arrived from Kolkata and was waiting for his company cab at Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, the officer said.

Unable to locate his cab, Ghanzanfani walked a few metres and arrived at gate number 2 of a metro station near Delhi Cantt area. While he was speaking to his cab driver over phone, a taxi driver approached him, the officer said.

The victim requested the driver to drop him nearby, where his company cab was waiting, for a fare of Rs 100. When Ghanzanfani sat in the taxi, there were already two people besides the driver. After the vehicle crossed Mehram Nagar, they forcibly took his debit cards after threatening him with a knife and asked for their PIN codes, the officer said.

They withdrew Rs 1 lakh using his debit card and took away USD 302 (approximately Rs 20,500) and Rs 12,000 from his wallet and dropped him on Mahipalpur flyover, he said.

The address of the alleged taxi driver was traced and it was found that they had used a fake number plate for their vehicle, he added.

On the basis of technical surveillance, the accused were nabbed, Bhatia said.

Interrogation revealed that the three have committed several robberies in Delhi Cantt area and one in Ghaziabad's Vijaynagar, he said.

Some of the articles of the pilot have been recovered along with the fake number plates and the taxi used in the crime, police said.

The three were also involved in other similar cases in Delhi Cantonment and Ghaziabad. With their arrest, three other cases have also been worked out, the police said.