Gurugram women cops to wear artificial jewellery to trap chain snatchers

KK Rao said the crime investigation agency has been directed to buy artificial gold chains and to train the women staff to play decoy and catch snatchers. As many as 200 women cops will participate in a special training programme, starting Saturday, said police officers, privy to the plan.

Gurugram

In January this year, 39 snatching cases were reported in the city in Sushant Lok-1, sector 56, Sector 5, Palam Vihar and Sector 22. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

A day after announcing a novel plan to catch vehicle thieves by leaving cars unattended on isolated road stretches, the Gurugram police have announced another unique idea to trap snatchers. Police commissioner KK Rao said women police officers, in mufti, wearing artificial jewellery, will be deployed on snatching prone stretches to attract the criminals and catch them.

Rao said the crime investigation agency has been directed to buy artificial gold chains and to train the women staff to play decoy and catch snatchers. As many as 200 women cops will participate in a special training programme, starting Saturday, said police officers, privy to the plan. They also added that after completing their training, the cops will be deployed on the vulnerable stretches such as Sushant Lok-1, sector 56, Sector 5, Palam Vihar and Sector 22 from March 1.

The officers said while one woman cop will be deployed as a decoy, other officers will keep an eye on her so that when a snatcher try to target her, they could help the woman cop catch him.

“This initiative will be the beginning of the crackdown on the gangs of snatchers operating across the city,” said Rao.

The stretches where these trained women officers will deployed have been decided through crime mapping — an exercise in which crime data was analysed to draw patterns and identify which areas reported maximum crime.

The crime investigation agency teams have also been asked to deploy teams to monitor suspected two-wheeler drivers since most snatchers commit the crime on bikes or scooters.

In January this year, 39 snatching cases were reported in the city in Sushant Lok-1, sector 56, Sector 5, Palam Vihar and Sector 22.

The officers said that youngsters who have been spending more in pubs, bars and clubs are also being watched.