Thiruvananthapuram: Cops felicitated for nabbing snatcher

Thiruvananthapuram: The city police on Saturday felicitated two traffic cops for catching a chain snatcher in two hours.

Bijukumar and Sarath Chandran of City Traffic Police Station received a citation and good service entry from commissioner S. Surendran.

The accused Sajeev, 28, of Chithra Nagar near Poojappura, allegedly snatched the one and half sovereign gold chain of a senior woman, Parvathy, of Tirumala, on Wedn-esday around 10.30 am.

He approached the women on the pretext of asking her an address while she was returning home after visiting a temple. He then fled on his motorcycle with her chain.

As the surveillance cameras captured the crime, the Control Room used the wireless communication system to pass the identification details.

Civil Police Officer Sharath Chandan when he received the message found out a motorcycle that shared similar identifications moving towards Museum nearly two hours later.

He informed it to Bijukumar who was on duty near Museum through the wireless. Bijukumar took him into custody with the help of the Museum police.

The shadow cops who reached the station identified Sajeev as a habitual offender who has a record of committing a series of similar snatchings in the recent past.

His modus operandi was to target older women travelling alone while they reach isolated places. He would wear a helmet and full sleeves shirt to ensure that he is not identified.

The police took him to the Poojapura station recorded the arrest.

Kairali Garden Resid-ents Association had installed surveillance cameras under Operation Kaval Kannukal, a unique initiative of former commissioner P. Prakash.

It was this camera that caught the chain snatcher.