The police say the businessman, Manish Chabra, 38, was returning home in a Maruti Zen around 11.30 p.m. when the incident occurred. Chabra had barely turned into a poorly-lit road from a crossing in Motinagar, west Delhi, when he noticed two youths, also in a Maruti Zen, following him.

Even before he could react, the youths overtook Chabra's car and intercepted it. They reportedly accosted him with knives and asked him to hand over his valuables. The youths took away Chabra's cellphone, gold chain and a bag containing Rs 5,000. One of them then drove away in his car.

In a separate incident, two unidentified youths robbed a person of his scooter in the Okhla Industrial Area last night.

Delhi-based chief of firm arrested
A delhi-based director of a private firm has been arrested after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) here unearthed a duty drawback racket.

Satish S Gupta, director of Sharp Travels (India) Limited, was remanded to judicial custody upto February 20 by the holiday Metropolitan Magistrate, N.B. Pokh-arkar, yesterday.

Two customs inspectors said to be involved in the case in Delhi were placed under suspension, DRI officials said. Enquiry with the bank through which the `fraudulent drawback' had been disbursed revealed the money had been siphoned off through a maze of accounts.