24-yr-old woman and her brother held for snatching

Four such incidents were reported at Malviya Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur and Kartavya Path police stations.

A 24-year-old woman has been arrested and her 17-year-old brother apprehended for allegedly snatching at least four chains in south and central Delhi since March, police said on Monday, adding that three of the snatching incidents took place in less than a month.

24-yr-old woman and her brother held for snatching

The two were nabbed from Pushp Vihar, Saket, and police recovered four stolen gold chains and one TVS Ntroq scooter that they allegedly used to carry out the snatchings from the duo.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan said that they had been receiving information that two people, including a woman, had been committing snatchings on a scooter and they were mostly targeting women. Four such incidents were reported at Malviya Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur and Kartavya Path police stations.

He said the first such crime carried out by the duo was reported on March 30, when they snatched a gold chain off a woman at the INA Market.

On September 28, around 9 pm, the two suspects allegedly snatched the gold chain off another woman who was walking back to her Malviya Nagar residence with her husband from the local main market. The couple informed the police that the boy was driving the scooter while the woman, riding pillion, snatched the chain.

The two are then suspected of committing the third and fourth chain snatchings on October 5 and 25 near Pilanji Village and on Man Singh Road.

DCP Chauhan said that the south district police’s anti-auto theft squad (AATS) was asked to identify and nab the snatchers. The team members scanned over 50 CCTV cameras and identified the suspects as residents of Dakshinpuri, near Ambedkar Nagar, in south Delhi. On Sunday, the two were apprehended from Saket, while they were riding the scooter. They had four stolen gold chains in their possession.

“The woman’s interrogation revealed that both are drug addicts and their parents also have a criminal background. Their father was a member of the infamous thak-thak gang and had been shot during an encounter in Uttar Pradesh,” the DCP said.

He added that the father “was involved in a ₹40 lakh robbery case in December 2018 under the Vaishali police station area of Uttar Pradesh. During the robbery, he opened fire on two policemen — killing one and injuring another. During the exchange of fire, he also sustained two bullet injuries, due to which he is now confined to a wheelchair.”