Bengaluru: Chain-snatching duo lands in police net

BENGALURU: The south division police arrested two notorious chain snatchers and claimed to have solved 23 chain snatching cases. The police have recovered 23 gold chains weighing 770 grams, worth Rs 21.5 lakh.

Mohammed Zabiuddin (32) and Mohammed Mehtab (26) had struck terror on city roads for the last one-and-a-half-years and had targeted women across South Bengaluru.  The duo had been arrested by the Bidadi police in 2013 for allegedly hacking man to death before robbing his car. The two had cases registered against them in various police stations, including Basavangudi, Jayanagar, Hanumanthanagar, Banaswadi, K.S. Layout, Subramanyapura and Banshankari, the police said.

The duo recently robbed an elderly woman of her chain while she was returning home after picking up her grandchildren in Subramnayapura.

The police who went through the CCTV footage from cameras nearby identified Mehtab. They zeroed in on him in Arakere, while his associate Zaibuddin was arrested from Jayanagar. Following a spurt in chain-snatching incidents, the police had formed a squad and was tracking chain-snatchers who had been released on bail recently.