3 Arrested For Sedating People With Sleeping Pills, Robbing Them In Delhi

Three members of 'Zeher Khurani' gang, known for robbing people after sedating them with sleeping pills, have been arrested, police said on Monday.

Kamal Singh, 34, Pawan, 32, and Gourav, 30, were based in Seelampur area of east Delhi, they said.

Police said the gang would make people eat sweets mixed with powdered sleeping pills and would rob them after they would get unconscious.

One such matter came to light on October 23, when a 43-year-old resident of Chandni Chowk approached Gulabi Bagh Police Station with a complaint of robbery, they said.

According to police, the victim in his complaint said that on October 21 around 7 am, he was travelling with 23 ceiling fans and some copper wires in his auto rickshaw. He had loaded the rickshaw at an electrical store in Bhagirath Palace and was on way to Najafgarh through Gulabi Bagh.

The accused at some point accosted him feigning that they were distributing sweets and offered him a 'laddoo' laced with the narcotic, which he ate.

He started feeling dizzy and became unconscious near the Shastri Park Metro Station, a senior police officer said.

The accused all this while followed the auto rickshaw and robbed him when the victim lost his consciousness, he said.

"During investigation, CCTV footage of the route followed by the complainant were checked. More than 100 CCTV cameras were checked for leads and finally, all the three accused were nabbed," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.

"... During police custody, the accused also named the chemist who used to provide them with the drugs without any prescription. Legal action is being initiated against him as well," he said.

The accused confessed that they robbed the man, and revealed that they sold the stolen goods to one Raju, a resident of Seelampur, for Rs 45,000. They said that they spent the money on the Diwali celebration.

Later, police made raids to arrest Raju too, but he had already decamped, Kalsi said.

The vehicle used in the crime and seven tablets used to sedate the targets were recovered from them, he added.

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