E-Paper
Chain snatchers strike again, cock a snook at cops
What is shocking is that these incidents have occurred at a time when the Pune city police’s ‘Morning Squad Initiative’ is already underway since March 15
PUNE: At a time when the Pune city police have undertaken the ‘Morning Walk Squad’ initiative to deter chain snatchers and build confidence among morning walkers in the city, two separate incidents of chain snatching were reported from Kondhwa and Bibwewadi on Monday wherein two unknown bike-borne men decamped with gold chains worth Rs2.35 lakhs.
In the first incident, a woman, 50, on her morning walk at Gokul Nagar on the Katraj-Kondhwa Road, was accosted near the State Bank of India (SBI) at around 8 am by two motorcycle-borne men who snatched her gold chain worth Rs1.35 lakh and fled from the spot before she could raise an alarm.
In the second such incident at Bibwewadi, Verendra Kelkar, 53, who works with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and was on his morning walk, was similarly robbed of his gold chain worth Rs1 lakh by two bike-borne men in front of Shridhar Nilay Housing Society on Swami Vivekananda Road.
Pravin Kalukhe, assistant police inspector, Bibwewadi police station, said, “The process to ascertain the identity of the two bike-borne thieves is underway. We are taking the help of CCTV footage in the locality and we will soon nab the culprits.”
What is shocking is that these incidents have occurred at a time when the Pune city police’s ‘Morning Squad Initiative’ is already underway since March 15. As part of this initiative, all senior police officials including the joint commissioner of police Sandip Karnik, five zonal DCPs, 28 police inspectors, 47 assistant police inspectors and 222 police amaldars join morning walkers across the city every day between 6 am and 8 am and communicate with them and help them feel safe during their walking session. That the chain snatching incidents have been reported despite the initiative is forcing citizens to question the purpose of all such endeavours.
On his part, Vikrant Deshmukh, DCP zone 5, said, “Our officers are taking efforts to minimise such incidents and we will soon nab the accused in these cases.’’
Meanwhile, FIRs have been registered at the Kondhwa and Bibwewadi police stations under sections 392 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigation is underway.
