NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have arrested two men — a 35-year-old property owner and a 19-year-old omelette vendor — for allegedly snatching a handbag from a New Zealand national in northwest Delhi’s Kohat Enclave earlier this week.
Police identified the accused as Karan Bhasin (35), a man from a well-off family with multiple properties, and Monu alias Raghu (19), who runs a roadside egg stall. Both allegedly turned to crime to support their drug addictions.
“On April 2, a PCR call was received at Subhash Place Police Station. The complainant, Somna Chaudhary — a New Zealand citizen currently visiting Delhi — said two men on a black sports bike snatched her handbag near a jewellery showroom in Kohat Enclave Market,” said Northwest DCP Bhisham Singh.
Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched an investigation.
Bhasin, police said, was previously convicted in a 2012 rape case. CCTV footage from the area helped identify a partial registration number of the bike used in the crime. This led police to Rithala, where Bhasin was apprehended.
His accomplice Monu was caught soon after. The two then led the police to a drain in Rajouri Garden, where the stolen handbag had been dumped. The bag contained the victim’s passport, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card, and other personal items. Police also recovered the bike and the clothes worn by the duo during the snatching.
Five cases of snatching — including two in west Delhi — have been solved with these arrests, officials added.