A Pakistan-based fashion designer lost cash and jewellery worth several lakhs after her purse was allegedly stolen - and later returned with only her passport - by suspected members of a thak-thak gang in southeast Delhi, police said today.
According to the police, the incident was reported on Thursday when the victim - who is the organiser of a two-day long fashion festival held recently in Delhi - and her husband were on their way to a hotel in south Delhi and they decided to halt at the Nizamuddin Dargah for a visit.
Meanwhile, the driver of the car, in which they were travelling, parked the vehicle nearby and remained seated inside, said a police official.
The complainant told the police that she had left her purse on the back seat of the car, beneath a bunch of newspapers, and also asked the driver to take care of her belongings. But when she returned, the driver claimed that the purse was missing.
The fashion designer claimed that someone had knocked on the car window and informed the driver that the tank was leaking. The driver deboarded the vehicle to check what was wrong and found nothing. When he boarded the car again, he saw that the purse was missing, said the police official.
Within half-an-hour, the complainant received a phone call and she was informed that her purse was found at Lajpat Nagar area, around two kilometres away from the Dargah.
The caller had tracked her through her passport - the only item in the purse - and asked her to take it back.
The Pakistan-based designer's husband, along with a few police officials, rushed to collect the purse. The caller - who turned out to be a street vendor - then told them that an unidentified teenager had dropped the purse near his cart and fled, said a police official.
An FIR was registered immediately. However, the police haven't been able to track any suspects yet.
"Preliminary investigation suggests that the complainant was targeted by a thak-thak gang operating in the area. Investigation of the case is underway," said DCP (south-east) M S Randhawa, adding that the value of the stolen belongings are also yet to be evaluated.
Thak-thak (knock-knock) gangs, who also go by the misnomer puncture gang, have a typical modus operandi of knocking on car doors and getting the occupant busy somehow for allegedly stealing belongings from inside the car.
They usually target cars with single occupants and they are highly active in areas of south Delhi, south east Delhi and central Delhi, said a senior police official.
