Gurugram crime: Six snatching incidents reported on Sunday

At least six incidents of snatching were reported from across the city on Sunday, with victims in all instances suffering injuries due to a sudden and forceful attack, the police said

At least six incidents of snatching were reported from across the city on Sunday, with victims in all instances suffering injuries due to a sudden and forceful attack, the police said. Multiple gangs were responsible for the incidents as they took place between 6.45am and 11pm.

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Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police, said that four teams have been formed to arrest the suspects who snatched gold chains and cash from six victims, five of whom were women. “We have arrested three suspects in the last two days involved in snatching cases and are questioning them to get more details. They had targeted more than 30 women this month,” he said.

According to police data, at least 102 cases of chain snatching were reported across the city till June 13 this year. Despite the lockdown in May and June, the city has witnessed a rise in street crimes, the police said.

In the first incident, around 6.50am on Sunday, a 40-year-old woman was walking with her husband on the footpath of Sispal Vihar’s Gate 2 in Sector 49. “A man came and attacked me and snatched my gold chain and ran towards the other side of the road where his friend was waiting for him on a motorbike. I didn’t notice the details of the motorbike as I was in shock,” the woman said.

In the second incident, the chain snatchers fled with a gold chain belonging to a 33-year-old man, who registered a complaint at the Sector 56 police station. “I was walking near the W Pratiksha Hospital around 7.40am when one of the bike-borne robbers walked towards me and asked me for an address. He suddenly hit me, snatched my gold chain and fled with his partner towards the main road,” said Kapil Kumar a resident of Sector 56.

In the third case, a woman was attacked by a man who snatched her purse and gold chain while she was waiting for her husband outside a bank around 11am on Sunday. “I had gone to withdraw money from an ATM in the main market. My wife had kept ₹10,000 in her bag and was wearing a gold chain with a pendant. A man came running towards her, hit on her head, snatched her gold chain and fled,” said Rajkumar Singh, a resident of Manesar who works with an automobile company.

In the fourth incident, a resident of Sector 57 said that the incident took place around 8.30pm on Sunday when he, along with his wife and daughter, was visiting the Hongkong Mall in Sector 57 to buy stationery and crockery. “As we were returning home, I was a few feet ahead of my wife. A man in his 20s snatched my wife’s gold chain with force due to which she fell on the road. The man ran towards a motorbike and they fled the spot,” the husband of the victim said.

In the fifth incident, a citizen was robbed of her gold mangalsutra chain near the Sector 57 market around 9pm. “I was waiting for my husband who had gone to get the car from the parking. A young man came and asked me for directions. Before I could say anything, he snatched my chain, pushed me on the road and fled. I suffered injuries to my neck and leg,” the 43-year-old woman, a resident of Sector 56, said.

In the sixth incident, two chain snatchers on a motorcycle decamped with a gold chain belonging to a 34-year-old Sohna resident, during a visit to South City-2 with her family for dinner. Police said the family was walking towards their car outside Arcadia Market in Sector 49 when one of the snatchers hit on the head and forcefully snatched her gold chain. “We raised the alarm but they had fled towards the Golf Course Extension Road. My wife has suffered injuries to her neck and head,” the woman’s husband, requesting anonymity, said.

Cases of chain snatching were lodged at Sector 50, 56 and Manesar police stations on Sunday under sections 379 A (snatching) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the crime teams and police stations concerned have started an investigation into the cases and are examining footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) to identify the suspects.