delhi

Updated: Sep 23, 2017 13:00 IST

Ukraine’s ambassador to Delhi, Dr Igor Polikha, on Friday became Delhi’s latest snatching victim.

Polikha’s iPhone was snatched while he was clicking the Red Fort.

The thief, police said, snatched the phone by approaching Polikha on the pretext of taking a selfie with him. Though police said they had strong clues about the snatcher, no arrests had been made and the suspect remained absconding three days after the crime.

Police said Polikha was on a morning walk at the Ukraine Embassy premises in Vasant Vihar on Wednesday morning when he suddenly decided to visit the Red Fort.

He left his driver and car in a parking lot in Daryaganj before wandering towards Angoori Bagh. A photography enthusiast, Polikha climbed up a small Hanuman temple as he thought he would get a good shot of the Red Fort from the temple’s roof.

As Polikha was climbing up the stairs around 9.15am, the thief began following him. The ambassador did not pay much attention to the man at first. The priests at the temple also thought that the thief was Polikha’s associate, said investigators.

“When Polikha took out his iPhone to get snaps of the historical fort, the thief approached him on the pretext of taking a selfie with him. Before Polikha could oblige or ignore him, the man snatched his phone from his hand,” said an investigator.

The thief jumped down from around seven-eight feet from the temple’s roof to escape from the spot. A shocked Polikha raised an alarm and made a half-hearted attempt to chase the snatcher, before giving up.

He then made a PCR call after which a snatching case was registered at Kotwali police station. Jatin Narwal, DCP (north), said a few teams have been formed to capture the thief and retrieve the stolen phone. He said it was just a matter of time before the thief is nabbed.

The thief apparently switched off the mobile phone soon after snatching it. It mostly contained personal data and information of the ambassador, police said.

Police sources said the thief was captured by a CCTV camera while running away. Though the picture quality has not been of much help, ground investigation by the police has helped the police get strong leads about the suspect.

“The ambassador said he must have used his iPhone to take photos of thousands of places and people in Delhi, but this was the first time he found himself in such a situation. We hope to help him retrieve his phone at the earliest,” said a senior investigator.