Chennai: As many as eight incidents of chain, bag and mobile phone snatching were reported in Chennai city limits since Saturday evening. In two cases of snatching of mobile phones, the people managed to catch the suspects. The police are trying to identify and track down criminals involved in the other six snatching incidents.
The sudden spurt in snatching incidents since Saturday evening also forced the police to think of increasing the patrolling and better deployment of manpower in vulnerable areas.
A bag snatching incident in Foreshore Estate a couple of weeks ago had even led to the death of two people including a woman who was a victim of snatching.
On Sunday, a woman identified as Anjala was her on a morning walk in Mylapore when she was robbed of her 5-sovereign gold chain by a dup on a bike.
In another incident of chain snatching at Nochikuppam in Mylapore, Mallika, who was drawing kolam, was relieved of her 1-sovereign gold chain by a man who escaped from the scene even as she cried out for help. The third snatching in Mylapore took place on Karneswarar koil street in which Amudha lost her gold chain to a biker.
In an incident of bag snatching on Kamarajar Salai, Pankajam, who was on the pillion of her husband’s bike, was relieved of her bag containing her mobile phone and cash by a duo on a bike late on Saturday evening. The couple was returning home after visiting their relatives in Puzhal when the incident happened.
Pravin Kumar, a software professional, was relieved of his mobile phone even as he was talking on it in Thoraipakkam after parking his two-wheeler on Saturday evening. He was on his way back from his office in Sholinganallur when he parked the bike near Thoraipakkam police station due to rain and was talking on his cell phone when a criminal took his gadget and money at knife point.
At Moolakadai bus stand, people managed to catch hold of two men who snatched a cell phone from a woman, a resident of Korukkupet. The two were later handed over to the police. In another incident of mobile phone theft, a 16-year-old boy was caught and handed over to the police when he took a gadget from his fellow passenger’s bag in MTC bus in Velachery.
