The plot of the blockbuster Bollywood film Bunty Aur Babli, in which Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji played a conning couple who team up after falling in love, has played out for real on Varanasi's railway platforms. The Cantt GRP has arrested a similar duo accused of targeting train passengers and stealing their jewellery, mobile phones and cash.
Meet the real life 'Bunty and Babli'
Police interrogation revealed that the mastermind behind the racket is Ram Dayal Mishra, with his girlfriend Jyoti Yadav playing an equally crucial role. Jyoti used her gender to her advantage, specifically targeting young men travelling alone and elderly women on trains and platforms, since such passengers tend to arouse less suspicion and are quicker to trust a stranger.
Winning trust before drugging victims
Jyoti would strike up conversation with passengers in a calculated manner, gradually building familiarity until the victim felt comfortable enough to share food or drink with her. Once that trust was secured, she would lace those items with a sedative, a method commonly known as jaharkhurani. As soon as the passenger lost consciousness, the couple would grab their bag, jewellery and mobile phone and vanish from the station.
An elderly woman's ordeal on June 13
Such drugging incidents at Varanasi's Cantt and nearby railway stations had been a persistent headache for police, yet the gang kept evading capture. On June 13, an elderly woman fell victim to the same jaharkhurani trick at Banaras railway station, adding pressure on investigators to crack the case.
CCTV footage cracks the case
Cantt GRP inspector in charge Rajol Nagar said that when police scanned CCTV footage from the station, a young man and a young woman were seen behaving suspiciously near the elderly victim. Using that footage, police launched a search and eventually identified the man as Ram Dayal Mishra, a resident of Varanasi. Investigators found that Ram Dayal had previously served jail time in similar jaharkhurani cases, but this time he was no longer working alone, he had teamed up with his girlfriend Jyoti Yadav to carry out the crimes.
Valuables worth lakhs recovered
After a sustained effort, police finally arrested both accused. Following the arrest, officers recovered valuables worth lakhs of rupees, including jewellery, mobile phones and cash, that had been stolen from passengers. The arrest of this real life 'Bunty and Babli' duo, who ran their operation with almost cinematic precision, is now the talk of the town from Banaras station to Cantt.
