10-second CCTV footage helps cops nab chain snatcher
A man has been arrested for committing six chain-snatchings in Mumbai local trains over the past week. The accused was identified with the help of CCTV footage.
MUMBAI: A man has been arrested for allegedly committing six chain-snatchings in local trains over the past one week.
The Vasai Government Railway Police (GRP) identified the accused with the help of a 10-second CCTV footage where he was seen removing his face mask to drink water.
According to Sandeep Bhajibhakre, deputy commissioner of police (GRP, Western Railway), in the past one week, the GRP stations between Borivali and Vasai had registered six chain-snatching complaints, especially during late night and early morning hours.
Bhajibhakre said the accused had thoroughly studied the locations of all the CCTV cameras on railway platforms and the areas adjoining railway stations to avoid getting identified, and changed his face mask and cap each time he snatched chains of suburban commuters.
The GRP officers then scanned footage of over 150 CCTV cameras installed on railway platforms and parts of the city to identify and nab the 30-year-old.
“After analysing the CCTV footage of the incidents, we noticed a man in a face mask and cap boarding a last or the first train and snatching chains seconds before jumping off moving trains,” he added.
“The GRP officials followed the man in and out of the platforms and in the city through the CCTV cameras for days, but we used to lose him after he entered the bylanes of Virar or Nalasopara. In one CCTV recording, we found the accused removing his mask for barely 10 seconds to drink water near a general store in Nalasopara,” he added.
The GRP personnel then laid a trap near the shop for three days before they spotted the accused, identified as Mohammed Aman Hussain, a resident of Vakanpada in Nalasopara East. Hussain was arrested and on searching his house, the GRP officers found six gold chains and mangalsutras worth ₹4.15 lakh. Hussain confessed to the crime and his plan to sell the chains in Uttar Pradesh,” Bhajibhakre said.
According to the police, Hussain came to the city six years ago and left for UP during the Covid induced lockdown. He had returned just a week before he started committing chain-snatching.