Cheap fare trap: Gang ran private bus for 2 months solely to loot passengers

Police on Thursday arrested three men and busted what was an unusually enterprising criminal operation: a private bus service run solely to rob its passengers.

- Jignasa Sinha

For nearly two months, the accused operated a 23-seater bus, charging commuters minimal fares to lure them on board. Once the journey began, passengers were threatened, assaulted and robbed before being abandoned at isolated locations, police said. The bus was deliberately run at night and in the early morning hours to minimise police scrutiny.

Investigators said the gang had purchased the bus specifically to carry out mass robberies. The accused were identified as Yogesh (41), Arshad (46) and Prem Shankar (28).