Army man robbed of gold chain worth ₹1 lakh snatchers targeting morning walkers: Police

According to the police, the 42-year-old officer chased the suspects for over 100m but failed to catch up with the suspects’ motorcycle. The senior officer, who commands a vital defence infrastructure on western border, is on leave and has been going for morning walks in the area for the past week.

Police have booked two men for allegedly snatching a gold chain worth over ₹1 lakh from a top-ranking officer of the armed forces when he was walking along a service lane in Gurugram Sector 45 around 6.30am on Thursday, said officials on Friday.

The officer suspects that the snatchers were following the army officer and attacked, when he was crossing a secluded area.

According to the police, the 42-year-old officer chased the suspects for over 100m but failed to catch up with the suspects’ motorcycle. The senior officer, who commands a vital defence infrastructure on western border, is on leave and has been going for morning walks in the area for the past week.

The senior officer, requesting anonymity, said, “One of the two suspects trailed me from a distance of nearly 15-20ft while the other person waited on the motorcycle with the engine on. The suspect snatched the chain from my neck and jumped on the motorcycle, and they fled by riding the motorcycle in the wrong direction of traffic flow. I raised an alarm but no one helped me... I chased them for 100m, but gave up after failing to catch up with the motorcycle. The snatching left injuries on my neck and back.”

The officer suspects that the snatchers were following him, and attacked, when he was crossing a secluded area. Based on the officer’s complaint, an FIR was registered against the unidentified suspects under sections 34 (common intention) and 379A (snatching) at the Sector 40 police station on Thursday afternoon.

This is not an isolated incident, as snatchers have been frequently targeting people out on morning walks in the city. Police said just within 14 hours of the senior officer being attacked, two suspects riding a motorcycle allegedly snatched a cellphone from a 35-year-man — Siddhartha Agarwal — when he was on a walk near his house in Sector 56 around 8.15pm on Thursday. An FIR was registered at the Sector 56 police station on Thursday night based on a complaint filed by Agarwal.

Two other similar cases took place on the Golf Course Road, and City Court in DLF Phase 4 on May 26 morning, said police, adding that efforts are on to ascertain whether the same suspects have been involved in these crime cases, and to arrest them at the earliest.

On May 26, four men riding two motorcycles allegedly snatched a gold chain from Bobby Joseph (50), the country head of a manufacturing firm, when he was also on a morning walk on Golf Course Road.

Several minutes before targeting Joseph, the same suspects snatched a gold chain from a bank official — Ashish Gupta (45) — while he was cycling near City Court in DLF Phase 4.

Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said, “We have obtained CCTV footage of the incidents and an investigation is underway to trace the suspects’ location. We will arrest them at the earliest.”