A female student returning to Jawaharlal Nehru University on the intervening night of October 20 and 21 survived an alleged robbery attempt at gunpoint as she was carrying no cash and had an "ordinary phone". According to the police, the three "intoxicated" robbers, who are said to be delivery agents, even frisked the woman but eventually left her alone when they did not find anything valuable on her.
The three accused, identified as Anil (22), Saurabh (23), and Salman (27), were arrested on Sunday, November 2, under charges of attempt to robbery, The Indian Express reported.
The victim was returning to JNU in an autorickshaw from her friend’s place in Jangpura when the three men approached her on a bike near Adhchini red light on Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg around 2:30 AM. They were asking her for directions towards Mehrauli, DCP South West Surendra Choudhary said on Monday, November 4.
"While the auto driver slowed down to reply, the bike halted in the front, restricting its way. One of the men, armed with a country made pistol, got off the bike and threatened the auto driver saying ‘they didn’t want anything from him’," the JNU student's complaint stated.
Meanwhile, the masked assailant allegedly forcefully got into the back seat of the auto where the victim was seated and started demanding money from her.
"When I repeatedly told him that I wasn’t carrying any cash, the accused allegedly frisked me for any valuables. When I pleaded to let me go as I had nothing valuable, the assailant asked for my phone pointing the gun at me. I somehow convinced him that it was a cheap phone. He asked the auto driver to leave saying that ‘she has nothing’," the complaint further noted.
Since the victim was traumatised from the incident and it "took a few days to recover" from it, she was able to record her police statement only on October 24. Police have registered a case at the Kishangarh police station and a probe was initiated, the report said.
During the investigation, police examined the route which the victim's auto had taken on the night of the incident with the help of CCTV footage in the area. This led the police to the bike on which the assailants came. Subsequently, the owner of the bike was found, which further led them to the three accused, who were arrested on November 2, police said.
The accused admitted to the crime during interrogation and claimed they were in an inebriated state at the time. "They revealed that they went to eat paranthas in Safdarjung Enclave from their workplace in Ghitorni but near Adhchini Red light they saw an auto and stopped to rob the female passenger of cash. However, no cash was found on her. They claimed that they didn’t rob anything from her and ran away from the spot," DCP Choudhary told The Indian Express.
It was also revealed that Salman, one of the accused, allegedly carried the illegal firearm during the robbery bid. A black Apache bike, which was used in the crime, was also recovered from them.