Indian 'water cooler gang' lull residents to sleep before robberies

Police in New Delhi are hunting a "water cooler gang" suspected of robbing shops and homes under their owners's noses after pouring sleep-inducing gas into air conditioners. Using a mixture of chemicals that lulls unsuspecting residents to sleep within minutes, the robbers easily entered a house in Ghazipur, East Delhi, this week and walked away with cash and jewellery worth around £8,000. Earlier this month, robbers made off with around £14,000 in identical circumstances.

Police fear the technique could be used increasingly to rob shops, homes and businesses throughout the city of millions of pounds. Most homes and offices in Delhi are cooled between April and July by "desert coolers" – bulky machines that fan air through wet grass panels, sending a cool breeze into the room. They are usually fitted through an external window and are easily accessible from outside.



They are favoured over Western-style air conditioners because they are cheaper to run. The gang's technique was discovered when Hanif Qureshi, 40, reported waking up locked in his bedroom with a bad headache. He had returned to his house alone, put on the cooler and woke a few hours later to find his home ransacked.

Mr Qureshi told police he had smelled a "revolting odour" coming from his cooler. "Preliminary investigations reveal that some substance was used in a water cooler to manipulate the inmates. The investigations are on and we have sent the water sample for testing and efforts are on to nab the people behind the crime," said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.