With the arrest of Kali Ram alias Kaluwa, 28, from Khanpur Kalan in Shamli district’s Jijhana block in UP., Panchkula police claimed to have solved eight snatching cases.
The crime branch team of Sector 19 here had gone there and arrested him in the second week of March. The accused was sent to judicial custody in Ambala central jail by the district courts here on Thursday.
Inspector Suraj Chawla said with his arrest eight snatching cases committed over the past 9 months were solved. Recovery has been made in half of these cases.
‘And 12 snatching cases in UT’
As per the sources, the accused is also involved in 12 snatching cases in Chandigarh as well. They will soon be seeking his remand through production warrant to interrogate him in order to solve the cases and make recoveries.
‘Accused belongs to infamous nomadic tribe from UP’
The infamous nomadic tribe from Uttar Pradesh is responsible for the spate of snatching incidents here in Panchkula, said police. The accused, said Chawla, belongs to Bawariya community, which is traditionally involved in criminal activities for decades. Nearly 70% people in and around 10 villages in Jijhana have criminal records. Chawla said Bawariyas are widely known for attacking houses and killing people before robberies.
But lately, younger generation has drifted towards crimes such as snatching, which is profitable yet not involving harsher sentence, unlike looting and killing, said Chawla.
{{/usCountry}}But lately, younger generation has drifted towards crimes such as snatching, which is profitable yet not involving harsher sentence, unlike looting and killing, said Chawla.
{{/usCountry}}“Nomadic community of Sansi, which are active in border districts of Haryana and Rajasthan, can be equated with Bawariyas of UP,” he added.
Chawla said their probe found three of his accomplices — Laxman, Hazar Singh, Charan Singh — were involved in snatching incidents here. But their homes were found locked during multiple raids. “We are regularly in touch with police there in order to arrest them,” he said.
The police said Kali was arrested following his identification through CCTV footage at the crime scenes.
Police faced resistance during recoveries
Panchkula police faced a lot of resistance from the locals when they took the accused to his native village to recover gold chains.
Inspector Chawla said they had registered the case against eight people for obstructing the police from doing duty during their recovery visit at Jijhana block.
“Many of his known people surrounded police vehicles and did not let them leave with him. But they were handled with the help of the local police,” he said.