Chandigarh | Man awarded two-year sentence for 2017 snatching incident

The accused has snatched a woman’s gold chain with a diamond pendant while she was parking her Suzuki Access scooter in front of her house after returning from Chandigarh’s Sector-34 market

Five years after snatching a gold chain, a man hailing from Uttar Pradesh was awarded two years of jail.

A case under Sections 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property carried by a person), 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code had at the time been registered on at the Sector 39 police station. After recovery of the gold chain section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC was added to the case. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The convict has been identified as Gulshan Kumar of Shamli, Uttar Pradesh.

Judicial magistrate first class Renu Goyal, while dismissing the prayer of the convict for probation on October 28, ruled, “By taking into note the rising cases of snatching, this Court is of the opinion that a serious view should be taken against the convict to curb the like minded offender.”

February 2017 incident

Renu Singhla, a resident of Sector 40, had reported the snatching incident that took place on February 12, 2017. In her complaint, she said a unidentified youth had snatched her gold chain with a diamond pendant as she was parking her Suzuki Access scooter in front of her house after returning from the Sector-34 market at around 3.40 pm. The youth ran towards his accomplice waiting on the motorcycle and fled.

A case under Sections 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property carried by a person), 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code had at the time been registered on at the Sector 39 police station. After recovery of the gold chain section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC was added to the case.

Police’s crime branch arrested the accused, Gulshan Kumar, on May 19, 2017, after bringing him on production warrants as was lodged in jail in connection with another theft case.

While the accused initially claimed that he had been wrongfully implication, he was identified by the victim. Police said he, later during his questioning, had admitted to have snatched the chain, which was then recovered from the huts near a liquor shop in Mauli Jagran.

Court order

Factoring in the details, the court ruled, “Admittedly, no independent witness has been joined into investigation. However, simply because that there is no other eye witness, the accused cannot be given the benefit of doubt.”

“People normally abstain themselves from the legal proceedings. So, non-joining of independent witness does not affect the alleged incident,” the order further read.