The Delhi Police has arrested three men who allegedly robbed a Canadian pilot attached with IndiGo airlines off for Rs 1.30 lakh at knifepoint in Delhi Cantt area.
The trio arrested by the police on July 20, has been identified as Mehraj Salmani, Asif and Farman, all hail from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
According to Sanjay Bhatia, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), airport, on the intervening night of July 12 and 13 Mohammad Mehdi Ghanzanfani, a captain with the airline, arrived from Kolkata and was waiting for his company’s cab at Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
“When he was unable to locate his cab, Ghanzanfani walked couple of metres and reached at gate number-2 of the Metro Station near Delhi Cantt area. While he was talking over his phone, a taxi driver approached him,” said the DCP.
“The victim requested the driver to drop him nearby for a fare of Rs 100, where his company cab was waiting. When Ghanzanfani sat in the taxi, there were already two people besides the driver. After the vehicle crossed Mehram Nagar, they forcibly took his debit cards after threatening him with a knife and asked for their PIN codes,” said the DCP.
“They withdrew Rs one lakh using his debit card and took away $302 and Rs 12,000 from his wallet and dropped him on Mahipalpur flyover,” DCP said.
“The address of the alleged taxi driver was traced and it was found that they had used a fake number plate for their vehicle,” said the DCP adding that on the basis of technical surveillance, three persons from Merrut were nabbed.
“Interrogation revealed that the three have committed several robberies in Delhi Cantt area and one in Ghaziabad’s Vijaynagar locality. Some of the articles of the pilot have been recovered along with the fake number plates and the taxi used in the crime,” said the DCP.