Three Delhi men held for highway robberies

 Three Delhi residents have been arrested on the charge of robbing commuters on the pretext of giving them lifts in Delhi and adjoining areas, police said on Sunday.

Accused Satender, 35, Rahul, 30, and Shahul, 25, of east Delhi's Trilokpuri were arrested on Saturday night on a tip-off while they were waiting for their victims near Ghazipur Mandi in east Delhi, Deputy Commissioner of Police Pankaj Kumar Singh said.

In the latest case, they robbed a Noida resident after offering him lift from Anand Vihar to Noida on Friday night.

The gang used different cars with private registration numbers and visited bus stands and stops to look for potential victims. 

As for their modus operandi, the officer said that two gang members seated themselves on the rear seats of the cars and posed as passengers, while the one on the driver's seat offered lifts to lone commuters to Noida, New Ashok Nagar and adjoining areas.

"After driving their targeted victims over some distance, the gang used to overpower them and looted valuables and credit/debit cards at knifepoint. They withdrew cash from ATMs with the snatched credit/debit cards and dumped their victims at desolate places and escaped. The gang was active for the past one year," the officer added.

Two cars used in the crime were seized from them. -= IANS