Across the lanes and streets of Noida and Greater Noida, the police are facing a new menace: youth in the 18-25 age group, belonging to middle-income-group families and armed with crude weapons and professional degrees.

Unlike professional criminals, these troublemakers “rob, snatch and con to fund their high-roller lifestyle”, says Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajiv Narayan Mishra.

“Since October last, about 75 per cent of petty street crimes in Noida and Greater Noida — such as robbing and snatching of wallets — has been done by first-time offenders,” he says. “Out of these, about half were young men doing courses such as MBA and MCA in Noida and Greater Noida.”

Noida’s Phase-2 police station’s inspector S K S Pratap says, “Their parents can fund their educational and lodging expenses, but not their fast, urban lifestyle involving nightclubs, beer bars, malls and girlfriends — for which they try to earn money illegally.”

One such offender caught recently by the police was Sumit Tyagi (21), an MCA student at an educational institute in Greater Noida.

According to the FIR, Tyagi robbed a Toyota Innova, a multi-utility-vehicle, on October 14 by pointing a country-made revolver at the owner.

During his interrogation, Tyagi told the police that he had wanted to sell off the car to fund his “personal expenses”.