13-year-old boy pins down man who snatched his mother’s gold chain in Delhi

The boy, Supriyo Pal, with the help of passersby, pinned down the suspect, identified later as Hari Om, till the police arrived at the spot. Om’s aide initially managed to escape but was later caught, police said.

A 13-year-old boy chased and helped nab a snatcher who had snatched his mother’s gold chain outside a school in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase-3 on Monday evening, police said.

The mother-son duo was walking past a private school in the neighbourhood when a snatcher allegedly approached Pal and snatched her gold chain with a jerk. (Representative image)

The boy, Supriyo Pal, with the help of passersby, pinned down the suspect, identified later as Hari Om, till the police arrived at the spot. Om’s aide initially managed to escape but was later caught, police said.

The police said they interrogated Om and identified his associate as Akbar, who was later nabbed. “Both of them have criminal records. For Monday’s snatching, they have been booked for offences like stealing, assaulting while committing a theft and receiving stolen property,” said deputy commissioner of police( East) Jasmeet Singh.

Police said the 13-year-old boy, Supriyo, lives with his parents in Mayur Vihar Phase-3 and is a Class 7 student. On Monday evening, he and his mother, Suvra Pal, walked out to the local market for shopping. The incident happened around 9pm while they were returning home.

The mother-son duo was walking past a private school in the neighbourhood when a snatcher allegedly approached Pal and snatched her gold chain with a jerk.

“The snatcher began running towards a motorcycle on which his associate was waiting for him. But Supriyo decided to chase and catch him. The snatcher had just hopped on to the motorcycle when my son dragged him down. As the snatcher fell, his associate rode away,” Pal told the police in her statement.

Even as Pal ran to help her son restrain the suspect, a few passersby got hold of the man and thrashed him. “Om was thrashed by the public. His injuries are not life-threatening. He was later arrested,” said the officer.

A part of the broken gold chain was recovered from Om, but a locket tied to it was found missing. Police said the locket was recovered from Om’s associate, Akbar.

Less than 24 hours later, in a different part of Mayur Vihar-III, a 51-year-old tutor was targeted in exactly the same manner. He too tried to take down the pillion rider trying to flee with his associate, but ended up falling on the ground and hurting his legs.