No cash, ‘ordinary phone’: How JNU student escaped being robbed at gunpoint

The victim, a JNU student, was returning to JNU from a friend’s place in Jangpura in an autorickshaw on the intervening night of October 20 and 21 when, near Adhchini Red light on Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg around 2:30 am, three unidentified men approached on a bike asking for directions towards Mehrauli, said Surendra Choudhary, DCP South West, Monday.

“While the auto driver slowed down to reply, the bike halted in the front, restricting its way. One of the men, armed with a countrymade pistol, got off the bike and threatened the auto driver saying ‘they didn’t want anything from him’,” her complaint stated.

Meanwhile, the masked assailant allegedly forced his way inside the back seat of the auto where the victim was seated and started demanding money. “When I repeatedly told him that I wasn’t carrying any cash, the accused allegedly frisked me for any valuables. When I pleaded to let me go as I had nothing valuable, the assailant asked for my phone pointing the gun at me. I somehow convinced him that it was a cheap phone. He asked the auto driver to leave saying that ‘she has nothing’,” the complaint read.

The victim said she “took a few days to recover” from the traumatising incident and recorded her police statement only on October 24. A case was registered at the Kishangarh police station and an investigation was launched.

Police examined the route taken by the victim’s auto on the night of the incident with the help of CCTV footage and identified the bike. This led them to the owner of the vehicle and subsequently, the three accused were arrested on November 2, police said.

During questioning, the accused admitted to the crime and claimed they were intoxicated. “They revealed that they went to eat paranthas in Safdarjung Enclave from their workplace in Ghitorni but near Adhchini Red light they saw an auto and stopped to rob the female passenger of cash. However, no cash was found on her. They claimed that they didn’t rob anything from her and ran away from the spot,” DCP Choudhary said.

The accused also revealed that Salman allegedly carried an illegal firearm on the night of the incident, the officer said, adding that a black Apache used in the crime was recovered from them.