Gang snatches 30 chains in Mumbai, Thane before finally being nabbed

One of the Mumbai accused snatched chains in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore too

The city’s three most wanted chain snatchers have finally been nabbed. Police estimate that Abbas Khan, Mustafa Sajid Shaikh and Tahir Shaikh Ali have snatched more than 30 chains so far.

Officials of the anti-chain snatching squad said their seniors asked them to form a team to trace the accused after undetected cases of daylight chain snatching began to rise in the eastern suburbs. (HT File)

Officials of the anti-chain snatching squad said their seniors asked them to form a team to trace the accused after undetected cases of daylight chain snatching began to rise in the eastern suburbs. Although cases of chain snatching have dropped this year, the number of cases solved also dropped, said officials.

On Saturday, the officers got a tip-off that the three men were hiding in a flat in Mumbra’s Nusrat Chawl. They conducted a raid and arrested Khan and Shaikh, who were involved in four recent chain snatching cases in Vikhroli, Panta Nagar and Navghar. “The men revealed the name of their accomplice, Ali, saying he would dispose of the booty after they had stolen it,” said an officer from the anti-chain snatching squad.

The police said Ali confessed to participating in 30 chain snatchings, led by Khan. He added that he had been arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 Act in the past.

After being released in August, he fled to Andhra Pradesh, where he committed two chain snatchings. He then went to Bangalore and snatched four more chains. “The gang is involved in more than five cases of chain snatching in Thane district,” added the officer.