Cracking down: Police use a constable as decoy, nab 3 snatchers

THE POLICE RECOVERED TWO SNATCHED MOBILE PHONES FROM THE SUSPECTS AND TWO MOTORCYCLES, ONE OF WHICH WAS FOUND TO BE A STOLEN ONE

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Saturday busted a gang of snatchers by using a constable as a decoy in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) said that three men were nabbed from the spot after they tried to snatch the constable’s phone. One of the suspects managed to flee.

Police claimed that the arrested trio together were found to be involved in 13 incidents of snatching. Two switchblade knives were recovered from them. The police team had laid their trap around 10.20pm near Samachar Market in Mayur Vihar, after identifying the area as “snatching prone”. “Constable Jitender dressed in plainclothes and began loitering around, pretending to speak on the phone, as other policemen hid nearby,” said the DCP.

The police did not have to wait for long as four men, none of them wearing helmets, allegedly approached the constable on two motorcycles around 10.40pm, said an investigator.

“The pillion rider on one of the motorcycles tried to snatch the constable’s phone, but failed. The suspects then hopped off their motorcycles and approached the undercover policeman. The pillion riders were flashing knives,” said the investigator.

The suspects then allegedly tried to pounce on the constable. But the policemen hiding nearby rushed to Jitender’s rescue and nabbed three of the men. “One of the suspects managed to run away. We chased him for several hundred metres, but he disappeared near Chilla village,” said the investigator.

The DCP identified the arrested men as Aas Mohammed, Salman Khan and Vikash.

The police recovered two snatched mobile phones from the suspects and two motorcycles, one of which was found to be a stolen one. The police have launched a hunt for the fourth man.

Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (eastern range), said that laying more traps — like the one in Mayur Vihar — was one of the many initiatives that the police have decided to take in order to deal with snatchers.

ZOO SNATCHING SOLVED

Police on Tuesday arrested two men and claimed to have solved the snatching case in which a Delhi police assistant sub-inspector’s wife was attacked for her gold chain near Delhi zoo .

Police said the arrested men are involved in at least 90 cases of robberies, snatching, attempts to murder and illegal possession of arms. Their involvement in the case where a couple was chased and robbed near Connaught Place is also being looked into.

DCP (New Delhi) Eish Singhal identified the two arrested men as Karnail Singh, 49, and Jitender Kumar, 36, both residents of Gulabi Bagh .