A 26-year-old man, who used to steal mobile phones of visitors of the Delhi zoo near Purana Qila, was arrested, police said today.
On January 6, a man's mobile phone was allegedly stolen whil he was in front of the jaguar den at the zoo. As soon as he realised about his loss, he raised an alarm, they said.
Following the incident, people could see a man escaping from there who was caught after a chase by a head constable of the Hazrat Nizamuddin police station, the police said.
The man was identified as Jitan Kumar. With his arrest, the police claimed to have solved 14 cases of cell phone thefts in the Delhi zoo, they said.
Kumar belongs to Ranchi but has been staying in north Delhi's Azadpur, the police said.
Along with his friend Roshan, Kumar would come to the Delhi zoo from Azadpur on weekends and holidays to steal as many phones as he could, Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (Southeast), said.
On the day Kumar was caught, his accomplice was also there, but managed to escape, he said.
Kumar also revealed that the duo would also be active during the days when Pragati Maidan used to host melas or expos, the official said.
During investigation, it was found that Kumar and Roshan would escape from the zoo in an autorickshaw. The auto driver used to wait for them outside the zoo, he said.
The accused duo used to position themselves around the white tiger or jaguar den where a lot of people would gather to see the animals, the official said.
They did not steal on roads, buses or elsewhere, but only targeted high footfall places like zoo or Pragati Maidan where people were unmindful of their personal belongings, he said.
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