Habitual offender out on bail held for snatching Lok Sabha member Sudha’s chain

The accused, Sohan Rawat, a resident of Okhla Industrial Area’s Harkesh Nagar, was released on bail over a month before he snatched R Sudha’s chain

A habitual offender out on bail facing 26 cases has been arrested for snatching Lok Sabha member R Sudha’s chain during a morning walk on Monday near the Polish embassy in New Delhi’s high-security diplomatic enclave Chanakyapuri, a police officer said on Wednesday

Congress lawmaker R Sudha at Parliament after the snatching on Monday. (ANI)

The accused, Sohan Rawat, a resident of Okhla Industrial Area’s Harkesh Nagar, was released on bail on June 26. “The cases against him are registered in Hauz Khas, Kalkaji, Sunlight Colony, Maar Colony, RK Puram, Naraina, Saket, etc,” said the officer.

The chain, the scooter used in the crime, another stolen two-wheeler, four mobile phones, the clothes, and the helmet he wore during the stanching have been recovered from Rawat. The police officer said Rawat was arrested in South Delhi after he was captured on CCTV riding in Moti Bagh after the snatching.

Sudha, who suffered injuries on her neck, and her clothes were also torn in the incident, was walking with Rajya Sabha member R Rajathi when the accused, wearing a full-face helmet, approached them from the opposite direction. “He was riding slowly, so I did not suspect anything. But as he passed, he suddenly pulled my gold chain with force. I somehow managed not to fall. My neck is injured and my clothes were torn in the process,” she said.

Sudha questioned how safe women are in the capital. Sudha asked if they cannot walk safely in a high-priority zone in the national capital, where else could they feel safe and follow their routine without fearing for their limbs, lives, and valuables? “In a high-security zone like Chanakyapuri, which is full of embassies and protected institutions, [it] is highly shocking to say the least,” said the Opposition Congress lawmaker in her police complaint.