During a shootout between the police and a duo of chain-snatchers in Indirapuram area of Ghaziabad, the police nabbed a former event-manager, Rahul Tiwari, while his accomplice, Sonu Kumar - an unemployed software engineer - managed to flee.
The accused admitted to his involvement in over 50 chain-snatching incidents in Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi.
"When a police patrol tried to stop the two men on a bike, they increased the speed of their vehicle. When we chased them, they opened fire with country-made pistol," circle officer (CO) Kamlesh Bahadur said.
Both are in the age-group of around 28-30 years and are residents of Malviya Nagar.
"Tiwari has revealed that they have several other unemployed educated men in their group. They especially target posh areas of Indirapuram. Both of the accused had lost their jobs around six months back. We have launched a manhunt for others," CO added.