Man arrested for stealing bags from senior citizens at Kashmere Gate ISBT, rly stations

New Delhi: A 54-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stealing luggage bags of senior citizens at the Kashmere Gate ISBT and railway stations on the pretext of helping them, police said on Thursday.

Identified as Suraj Parkash of Shalimar Garden in Gaziabad, the man used to run a medical store that faced losses and he started committing crimes, they said.

A 56-year-old woman, from Hisar in Haryana, lodged a complaint on October 18 at the Kashmere Gate police station stating that after she arrived at the ISBT, the accused offered to help her with her bags and then disappeared with everything.

The bag the man stole had some clothes, a mobile phone, some jewellery and documents, the police said.

During investigation, police checked CCTV footage and spotted one suspicious individual following the complainant, a senior police officer said.

Thereafter, more footage was analysed to ascertain the suspect, and it was found that he committed similar thefts earlier also, he said.

The accused was apprehended on Tuesday when he was roaming around ISBT. Thereafter, a raid was conducted, and 51 bags and 26 stolen mobile phones were recovered from his home, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.

During interrogation, it was disclosed that the accused is a BSc graduate from Meerut University. Earlier, he used to run a medical store on rent, but had some loss in business and started committing crime around two years ago, the DCP said.

He was involved in around 150 thefts near ISBTs and railway stations. He also claimed that he has never been arrested earlier, police said.