Chennai: Mobile snatchers have a field day

Chennai: In a startling incident for the second time, a series of mobile phone snatchings was reported at Abiramapuram, Royapettah and Mylapore areas on Monday. The same Iranian gang that was on a mobile snatching spree last week before being arrested in Andhra Pradesh is suspected to be involved.

In the first incident on Monday  at around 4 pm at Abhiramapuram, two men on scooter snatched the phone worth Rs 15,000 from one Nagarjun (23) of MGR Nagar. The victim working as a private bank staff had just stepped out of his office when the incident happened.

Abiramapuram police have registered a case. In the second incident that occurred two hours later, two men suspected to belong to the same gang burgled mobile phones of two men, I. Sarathi (25) of Mylapore and P. Arumugam (50) of Pallaku Nagar. Sarathi was near Mundagakanni Amman temple, when the duo snatched his phone worth '27,000 and Arumugam lost his phone costing '18,000. Arumugam later registered a complaint.

At 9 pm, allegedly, the same gang snatched the phone worth '15,000 of one R. Sekar (26), a few metres away from Royapettah police station.

Sekar hails from Andhra Pradash and had come to the city for a job and had stepped out for dinner, when the incident happened. Royapettah police have registered a case.

To nab the culprits,  a special team has been formed under Mylapore Deputy Commissioner P Saravanan. Further investigations are on.