3 women posed as clothes sellers in Lutyens’ Delhi. Then shoppers started losing valuables

The NRI woman realised what had happened only after selecting a shawl and reaching into her bag for the purse, which contained her cards and cash. She raised an alarm, and the shopkeepers alerted police.

When police checked the CCTV footage, it showed how the theft played out.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma formed a team under the supervision of Station House Officer Inspector Sukhbir Singh to probe the case.

The team, also comprising Sub-Inspector Divya Dagar, Head Constables Hari Singh, Naurang and Lalit, examined footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras at the shop and along adjoining routes before conducting multiple raids in Chilla Village near Mayur Vihar, around 11 km from Connaught Place.

Field enquiries and house-to-house verification eventually led them to a one-room house where Bindiya, Neelam and Kali were staying with another woman.

Late at night on September 3, police briefed the house owner about them and lay in wait until morning. When the women came out of the house, they arrested them.

From a corner of the room, police recovered the NRI’s stolen purse.

CCTV footage from Kashmiri Shawl Emporium on Janpath Road shows Bindiya Sisodiya in the act of the alleged theft.

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The room, located on the first floor of a residential building, offered little clue to what police claimed the women were doing in Delhi.

There were mattresses, blankets, a stove, a small LPG cylinder and a few cooking utensils — all brought from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, where the women lived with their families. They had been living there for the past seven days, paying Rs 3,500 a month for the room.

Police said they told the landlord they had come to Delhi to sell clothes. They planned to stay for three to four months and return home after earning enough money.

The landlord said three women would leave during the day while one stayed back to manage the household.

Police, however, alleged that the three women moved through Central and Lutyens’ Delhi’s upscale markets, looking for women tourists and others they could target.

Their alleged source of income was theft.

A police officer said the three women were “sharp and daring” as, despite knowing that they had skipped bail and that the police might track them down, they rented a house and stayed there under the guise of selling clothes.

“They operate in a proper syndicate,” the officer said.

Pattern starts in Rajgarh

According to police, the three women are part of a larger group from Rajgarh allegedly involved in similar thefts in Delhi.

A police officer said, “Women from the group travel to Delhi carrying little more than kitchen utensils, a small LPG cylinder and their handbags. They rent rooms in areas such as Chilla Village and Sarai Kale Khan, telling landlords they have come to sell clothes or take up odd jobs.”

“They typically tell the landlord they plan to stay for three or four months before returning to Rajgarh, once they have earned around Rs 4-5 lakh,” the officer added.

The women do not carry smartphones, according to police, and instead use basic keypad phones to avoid being tracked.

During the day, they move around the city looking for potential targets. Police said they also travel by metro, where they target women passengers.

“They would mostly target rich women carrying cash or jewellery. They work in a group with collaboration and coordination,” another officer said.

Trio on police radar

According to Delhi Police records, Bindiya, Neelam and Kaali are facing more than half a dozen criminal cases and have been declared proclaimed offenders in theft cases registered in Sadar Bazaar, Chanakyapuri and Kotwali, respectively.

Head Constable Rampal, who was part of the team, had been tracking the women since 2024 after they allegedly committed a similar theft outside a shop and escaped.

Apart from the stolen purse and its cash and cards, police also recovered Rs 17,000 from the women. Police suspect they may have targeted another location before entering the Kashmiri Shawl Emporium.

Delhi Police said Rajgarh police have been informed about the arrests and that efforts are on to identify other members of the group.