'Malviya Nagar Maniacs' nab mobile snatcher, save Uzbek woman in south Delhi

At a time when increasing attacks on foreign nationals have become a major cause of concern for the Indian government, a heroic act by a group of teenagers in protecting an Uzbek national in South Delhi has come as a surprise for many who believe that Delhiites are insensitive people.

New Delhi: At a time when increasing attacks on foreign nationals have become a major cause of concern for the Indian government, a heroic act by a group of teenagers in protecting an Uzbek national in South Delhi has come as a pleasant surprise for many who believe that Delhiites are insensitive people.

As per a report in 'The Times of India', this group of teenagers, who fondly call themselves the 'Malviya Nagar Maniacs' recently chased a man who was after an Uzbek national and saved her life.

On August 19, around 10 pm, the boys were practising for a match in the park, when they heard a foreign woman's scream and saw a man running away after trying to snatch her mobile.

Sensing the situation, the boys immediately ran after him, barefoot.

Arun Singh Rajput, one of the boys, was also quoted as saying, “it was an adrenaline rush. The man was like a 'goal' that had to be scored."

The group finally caught him near a school, hiding behind a car and got him arrested.

Interestingly, the whole incident was also captured in the CCTV cameras installed in the area.

The CCTV footage shows a man following the Uzbek woman, who was talking on her mobile, and then trying to grab her phone. When she resisted, he attacked her.

The Uzbek woman, who had come to India barely three months ago on a business trip and was staying with a friend in Malviya Nagar, was shocked with the incident.

She later narrated to police that on the day of the incident she was returning from a meeting and was walking inside the gated colony when the man, who was identified as Suraj, started trailing her.

The woman, unaware of being stalked, was talking on her mobile phone when the accused came from behind tried to snatch her phone.

As he fled, the group of boys playing in the park jumped the park walls and gave chase. Sarthak Sharma, a class XII student of LBS School RK Puram, was the first to jump. Arun Singh Rajput, a class XII student of St Paul's School, Japneet, a second-year-student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Aayush Joshi, a class XII student, followed them.

"We were playing in the park when we heard a scream. We rushed towards the sound. We saw a foreigner, who was in tears, and then a man running towards Apeejay School. We sensed something was wrong," said Sharma.

Japneet said that as they reached near Apeejay School, they couldn't spot the man. "We were discussing where he could have gone when we saw him hiding behind a car. As we approached near him, he confidently came out as if he hadn't done anything. But we recognized him," he said.

The boys said that there was so much anger in them that they couldn't stop themselves from giving the man a few blows.

The boys then dragged him from the school and brought him to the spot where the incident had taken place. By then, someone had called the police and they had reached the spot.