‘Rise in snatchings alarming, no leniency for perpetrators’

CHANDIGARH: Expressing concern over the “alarming” rise in snatching cases in Chandigarh, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said perpetrators deserve no leniency as the public will lose faith in the criminal justice system.

Dismissing the bail plea of Ajay, a 22-year-old man accused of chain snatching in Burail on March 15, the bench of justice HS Madaan said on Thursday: “Normal people, especially women and children, are afraid of going out of their houses... in the evening and at late night hours. In the process of snatching valuables from the common people, the criminals cause harm to them physically, especially when some resistance is offered.”

People had started suffering from a fear psychosis, the bench added. According to an FIR lodged at the Sector 34 police station, Ajay was accused of attacking and robbing two persons at 11 pm, when they were out for a walk. The stolen articles were later recovered by the police.

The Chandigarh administration had informed the court that the accused had been involved in two similar crimes in April 2020 and one in September 2017. “That means he is a habitual offender. If granted the concession of bail, there is every likelihood of his trying to tamper with the prosecution evidence by giving threat or inducement to the prosecution witnesses or even to abscond to delay the trial,” the bench said.

There was probability of his taking to the path of crime again, resulting in a rise in the crime graph in the area, the bench added.