NEW DELHI: What could have been just another phone-snatching incident in North Delhi’s Sabzi Mandi turned into a story of presence of mind when a 60-year-old woman helped police catch the thief by calling her own stolen phone.
Geeta, an anganwadi worker, had just finished a meeting around 11.35 am on January 19 and was walking towards Barfkhana. As she took out her phone to call her daughter at about 11.40 am, a youth on a scooter snatched the handset and sped away towards Karol Bagh via the Maharani Jhansi Flyover.
Instead of panicking, Geeta rushed back to her office and borrowed a colleague’s phone to dial her own number. To her surprise, the snatcher answered and demanded ₹2,000–₹3,000 in exchange for returning the phone. Sensing an opportunity, Geeta stayed on the call and tried to gather clues about his whereabouts.
She alerted her colleagues, one of whom immediately informed the police. A PCR van arrived, and two constables also called the stolen phone. The accused told them he was on the Maharani Jhansi Flyover and repeated his demand for ₹3,000.
Based on the information Geeta provided, the police and the victim set out in an auto-rickshaw, tracking the caller’s movements from Barfkhana towards the flyover and taking a U-turn near Filmistan.
The plan worked. On the flyover, the snatcher — still holding the stolen phone and expecting easy money — was intercepted by Geeta and the constables. He was identified as Rohit Yadav (22), a resident of Sonia Vihar, and the phone was recovered.
Police said the accused was taken into custody and a case has been registered.
Officials noted that this is part of a growing pattern of alert citizens helping law enforcement. Earlier this month in Narela, three friends assisted police in catching armed robbers who had threatened a mobile shop owner. In October, a 61-year-old woman in Model Town, with the help of bystanders, foiled a purse-snatching attempt, with the suspects later handed over to police.
