NEW DELHI: If you find yourself surrounded by

in

during peak hours and one of them suddenly starts feeling sick or behaving abnormally, secure your valuables before stepping out.

In one of the largest hauls by Delhi Metro police, two operating mostly in the ladies’ coach were busted and stolen items, including gold and diamond jewellery, worth more than Rs 25 lakh recovered from them.

One of these gangs is based in Kathputli Colony, as reported by TOI earlier.

Newbies in the crime world, this gang of women

was still working in anonymity and nabbed before they could target their next victim. Two of the gang members, Katrina (25) and Varsha (22), were taught the nitty-gritty of committing the crime in Delhi Metro by Laxmi (30). Their arrest led to jewellery worth over Rs 15 lakh being recovered from them.

The residents of Kathputli Colony came in touch many years ago and took inspiration from other women pickpockets living in their locality. Laxmi learnt the tricks of the trade, but as she feared getting caught if she operated alone, she roped in 10 others. She took them to metro stations to give them a practical experience of how to go about their “job”.

On Friday evening, one Gurvinder Singh complained to police about his jewellery being stolen in the metro. Deputy commissioner of police (metro) Pankaj Kumar Singh formed a team and they scanned CCTV footage at the station. The cops soon zeroed in on the gang members and nabbed them before they could commit their next crime.

During interrogation, it came to the fore that the accused women are natives of Maharashtra and had shifted to Delhi a few years ago. After the demolition of their shanties in Kathputli Colony, they started living in temporary sheds in the same place. Since they had no means to a livelihood, they planned the thefts in metro thinking that they would get away since the trains were usually crowded.

The gang worked in groups of three to 10. A couple of them carried babies to avoid suspicion. They would sit next to their targets and, taking advantage of the crowd, zip open the bags of their victims and steal valuables. The stolen goods would be immediately passed on to other gang members so that the one sitting next to the victim would get away scot-free if a search was conducted. Such gangs disperse and get

the train one by one at different stations to avoid suspicion, police said.

Police recovered stolen goods worth Rs 10 lakh from the second gang busted earlier this week.

The accused women were identified as Basanti (65), Suman (22) and Naina (23). Even this gang took to crime as they had no means to a livelihood and their husbands were jobless.

Most of the theft cases are reported from interchange stations like Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate. Police said they have deployed heavy security in these places. The other stations where the thieves target passengers include Central Secretariat, Mandi House, Yamuna Bank, Inderlok, Ashok Park Main and Kirti Nagar. Approximately 11,000 FIRs of theft were registered with the metro police in the past one year.