Delhi Police arrest 5, including juvenile, for robbing pedestrian to fund birthday celebration

New Delhi: Five people, including a minor, allegedly assaulted and robbed a pedestrian of his mobile phone and bag in Delhi's New Friends Colony area in order to arrange funds for celebrating the birthday of one of the accused, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Dev alias Deepak (28), Prince Kumar (18), Manav (19), Deepak (18) and a minor, revealed that they committed robbery to arrange money for celebrating Deepak's birthday.

"They told police that none of them had a stable source of income and considered robbery as an easy way to gather funds quickly. The accused were identified through detailed analysis of CCTV footage and local intelligence, leading to the recovery of the stolen mobile phone," a senior police officer said.

A PCR call was received late on July 5 night regarding a robbery near Royce Hotel on C V Raman Marg. The complainant, Shankar Rai, told police that around 11.30 pm, he was attacked by some men, who snatched his mobile phone and bag before fleeing the spot.

A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at New Friends Colony police station, the officer said.

Dev alias Deepak works as a watchman and has no previous criminal record. Prince, a school dropout after class 5, and Manav, who completed class 12, also have no prior cases. However, Deepak (18), a class 9 dropout, has one previous criminal involvement, the officer added.