Two chain snatchers consume poison in lock-up

Two men arrested in connection with a chain-snatching case reportedly consumed poison inside the lock-up at LT Marg police station on Saturday afternoon. HT reports.

Two men arrested in connection with a chain-snatching case reportedly consumed poison inside the lock-up at LT Marg police station on Saturday afternoon.

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Shahzad, 21, and Sheikh Shadab, 19, are currently being treated at JJ Hospital.

They were to be produced in court on Saturday.

“They were arrested by the Pydhonie police on December 24, 2010, and handed over to the LT Marg police on Monday. They were supposed to be produced in court on Saturday. When they did not turn up in court, we got worried and went to the police station to enquire," Shadab's brother, Yusuf. "We were told that they had consumed poison.”

A policeman found the two men lying on the floor inside the lock-up, and immediately informed his seniors.

“They consumed some poisonous substance and were rushed to the hospital. Since there is a closed-circuit television camera installed inside the lock-up, we will soon find out how the duo managed to acquire the poison at the police station," said Anil Kumbhare, deputy commissioner of police (zone 2).

Relatives of the duo claimed that they had confessed to their crime but the officers of LT Marg police station were "coercing them" to confess to other chain snatching cases in which they were not involved.

The relatives also claimed that they were being pressured to hand over the stolen booty of their previous offences and since they did not have it, they got scared and might have decided to end their lives.

But Kumbhare said, “The allegations are false. We are investigating the case.”