Women’s Gang Terrorize Residents in Gurgaon Sector 49

A group of women, reportedly part of a pickpocket gang, have been extorting residents of Sector 49 with three cases reported last week in the area, the police said.

According to the police, more than three women have been allegedly cornering residents walking alone in Sector 49 and forcing them to hand over their cash and valuables.

If their target is a man, they accuse him of molesting and attempting to rape them. The man is forced to give them his money and the women flee the spot on a motorbike or in a car, the police said.

Recently, on the evening of January 12, one of the women allegedly cornered Sandeep Gupta, a resident of D block in Sector 49 and an employee of an automobile company. He was driving back home from work and when he was near A block, an old woman asked for a lift. He stopped his car for her, assuming that she was a resident of the area.

The woman got in and after a few minutes, she asked Gupta to hand over all his money. She threatened to raise an alarm and falsely accuse him of raping her if he did not obey. Scared, Gupta gave the woman around Rs. 7,000 and rushed home.

“I was shocked to see my husband return home frightened. He told me about what happened and we went to the spot to search for the woman. We searched for half an hour and finally caught hold of her near the sector market. She was waiting to stop another car to take a lift,” Gupta’s wife Prachi said.

Prachi caught hold of the woman and asked her to return the money. The woman bit her hand and pushed her on the ground. She abused her and threatened to tear off her clothes, Prachi said.

“My husband got scared and asked me to leave as he thought she must be carrying a knife and could attack me. Within minutes, she fled towards the gate and boarded a cab that was waiting for her,” she said.

The cab was keeping a watch on the incident and when she was running towards the car, the driver opened the gate and accelerated the car.

“We called the police control room, but even after half an hour, no PCR or police officer turned up. We left for home and informed the station house officer of the Sadar police station. No action has been taken yet. We do not trust the Gurgaon police as they did not support us. My husband is still in shock I feel helpless,” Prachi told HT.

Two similar cases were reported from the sector in the last one week. Residents have alleged that despite giving the woman’s car number to the police, no action has been taken so far.

“All of a sudden, Sector 49 has become unsafe for men too. The residents are scared to move out after sunset as incidents of snatching and extortion are increasing day by day,” Bhupinder Singh, a resident of D block in Sector 49 and senior executive of a telecom firm, said.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Deepak Saharan said, “We will take prompt action on the complaint and will ensure that police deployment is increased in the area. We will also form teams to arrest the gang active in the area and request the residents to inform the police immediately.”