Flyandrob chain snatchers from UP strike gold in South India

LUCKNOW: WITHIN TWO MONTHS, THE GANG ROBBED 30 WOMEN. THE SUDDEN SPURT IN CHAIN SNATCHING ALARMED THE BENGALURU POLICE

It was a gold rush powered by criminals with a jet set mindset. A gang of chain snatchers from western Uttar Pradesh adopted a ‘flyand-rob’ model to target women wearing heavy jewellery in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The gang used to fly to these cities and return home with the booty by train, the police said. Ultimately, the Bengaluru police on Thursday busted the gang, arresting the chain snatchers Jai Prakash, Nitin Kumar, Jitendra Kumar, Kapil Kumar, Nand Kishore, all in the age group of 20-30 years. The police recovered 20 gold chains worth ₹20 lakh from their possession.

Talking to HT on phone, additional commissioner of police (Bengaluru) Seemant Kumar Singh said the chain snatchers told the police officers during interrogation that they initially used to rob chains in west UP, Haryana and Delhi. But they soon became frustrated as the chains that they snatched were either artificial or of low quality, he said. It was then that they heard from an acquaintance settled in Bengaluru about the ‘craze’ for gold ornaments among women in south India.

The gang visited Bengaluru in September and conducted a recce in busy market areas and localities of the city.

Then, they decide to change base from north to south India. They needed a motorcycle to flee after snatching ornaments. Rather than obtaining a bike in Bengaluru, they got two gang members to drive their old, customised motorcycle from Shamli to the Karnataka capital, covering 2,252 kilometres.

Posing as textile merchants, they took a room on rent in the city. Within two months, the gang robbed 30 women. The sudden spurt in chain snatching alarmed the Bengaluru police. “The police increased patrol and started scanning CCTV footage from cameras installed on roads, markets, the airport and railway stations. Chain snatching is considered a serious crime in Bengaluru,” the additional commissioner of police said.

“The CCTV footage helped us in zeroing on the gang,” he said. Singh said, “Bengaluru police have constituted teams that will visit UP, Delhi and Haryana to probe the case.”