The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested one of the two persons accused of robbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece in the national Capital, ANI reported. Several documents and cash were also seized from Nonu’s possession.
The woman, Damayanti Ben Modi, had lodged a complaint after her purse and phone was snatched in New Delhi’s Civil Lines area on Saturday. The accused, who were on a two-wheeler, snatched her bag that contained her phone, some documents, wallet, and around Rs 56,000.
The incident took place after Damayanti Ben Modi reached the city from Amritsar, and was getting out of an autorickshaw. It took place around 300 metres away from the residences of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. An unidentified official, who is part of the inquiry, told the Hindustan Times the two accused were following the woman and her family from outside the Old Delhi Railway Station for about 15 minutes.
“I came to Delhi and reached Gujarati Samaj Bhavan on Saturday morning,” she said. “I was scheduled to take a flight for Gujarat in the evening. I was getting off the auto rickshaw when the snatchers targeted me.” She registered a case of assault or criminal force to commit theft and punishment for theft under sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The police said accused Nonu was apprehended thrice when he was a juvenile, reported The Indian Express. Around 100 police officers were divided into 20 teams to trace down the suspects and scan CCTV footage.
Earlier the police said they had taken into custody about 50 suspects, adding that one of the two accused was from central Delhi while the other was a minor from northeast Delhi. “Her stolen phones were put on surveillance,” an unidentified official said. “The last location of one of her phone was in Paharganj. It seems that the suspects switched off the phones in that area. Our teams are rounding up criminals active in Paharganj and nearby areas.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Monika Bhardwaj confirmed that a snatching case had been filed and they were going through CCTV footage to look for the accused, NDTV reported.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party criticised the central administration over the situation in the city. “With each passing day, the law and order situation is going from bad to worse, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadda said, according to The Hindu. “The alacrity that Delhi Police shows in chasing political opponents of the BJP is completely absent when it comes to providing safety to people.”
Several snatching incidents have been reported from the city in the last few months. On September 22, a journalist suffered injuries after she resisted an attempt to steal her belongings in south Delhi’s CR Park area. Another similar episode occurred a few days later with a journalist in the city’s Okhla area.
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