Delhi: 32-year-old laced fruit juice of drivers with sedatives, made off with cabs

NEW DELHI: A 32-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing hired taxis after drugging their drivers, police said, adding the accused single-handedly stole night cabs in Delhi and other states.
Ankush Kumar, a second-year BCA dropout, is a resident of Hari Nagar. He used to target cab drivers and chose to operate on long routes as it gave him time to get friendly with the drivers to offer them spiked drinks.
Deputy commissioner of police (IGIA) Tanu Sharma said on June 23, a case was registered on the complaint of a driver told police that a passenger, who booked his cab from Jaipur to Delhi, gave him a fruit juice laced with sedatives.He woke up after two days to find that his car was stolen.
"The team was divided into three parts to work to check call detail records, CCTV footage, and payment history. After scanning over 100 cameras covering an area across 55 kilometres and through technical surveillance, they apprehended Kumar from his home in Hari Nagar," the DCP said.
"Before offering the drinks, he used to make his target stop near roadside entries on the pretext of buying the fruit juice so he could mix heavy doses of an intoxicating powder in it. He used a syringe to mix the sedative in the drink," the officer said.
He first committed the crime in Kharad (Punjab) and was arrested. Then he committed such a crime at Kashmere Gate and was arrested again. Apart from Delhi, Kumar has committed similar crimes in Jaipur, Punjab, Noida, Bareilly, and Haridwar. "He got the idea of stealing from a lab technician," the DCP said.