Utensil thief arrested

NEW DELHI, February 18: Rajender Kumar Jain was the perfect customer. He would walk into a shop and ask to see a variety of goods. He would then choose a sizeable number, and ask that they be loaded in his vehicle while he paid the bill. That never happened. Before the shopkeeper knew it, Jain would dash off in his car, probably to another market.

The 30-year-old conman’s shopping spree came to an end yesterday when he was nabbed by the south-west district police. He chose some utensils from a shop in Inderpuri and asked the salesperson to have them put in his car. Within seconds he drove off without paying the Rs 10,000 bill, while the stunned shop owner looked on.

He next went to a shop near Payal Cinema in Janakpuri and tried the same thing. But the shopkeeper managed to inform the police in time, and they nabbed him as he was fleeing. The utensils were recovered from his car. The police are now trying to ascertain exactly how many shops Jain has looted.