Snatchers run amok, safe streets at premium

Termed a ‘gateway’ into the crime world, snatching is one of the most common offences. But it has a huge impact on the city’s safety index

Soumya Pillai and Karn Pratap Singh

NEW DELHI: On February 27, at around 9.30pm, Simran Kaur, 25, was returning home with her mother and two-year-old daughter from a nearby market in Adarsh Nagar. Just a few metres away from her house, two men on a motorbike tried to snatch her necklace. When Simran resisted, one of them stabbed her with a knife. As Kaur collapsed, bleeding profusely, the two snatchers escaped. Kaur succumbed to her wounds in a hospital.

Snatching is one of the most commonly reported street crimes in Delhi, with 3,829 cases registered till June 15 this year. Last year, 2,612 cases were registered during the same period. Experts say that the data does not reflect the real dimension of the problem because several snatching cases are registered as simple theft. This, they add, ignores two important aspects – first, unlike simple theft, snatching is an important indicator of the citizens’ safety on the streets, and the additional trauma that a victim of snatching goes through.

Even statistically, a comparison of Delhi Police data on snatchings and robberies across the city in the past 10 years paints a disturbing picture. In 2011, 1,476 people became victims of snatching. This means every six hours at least one person was targeted by a snatcher. Over the years, the frequency of this crime has increased to at least one every hour in 2021.

Similarly, with 562 robberies reported in 2011, at least three robberies were reported over every two days in 2011. This has now increased to one every four hours. Experts, especially former police officers, say it is time to draw up a plan that reigns in street crime to make the city safer.

An analysis of these two most common street crimes recorded over the last few years also shows that they are not confined to any particular area. They are as rampant in gated colonies as is in open neighbourhoods and unauthorised colonies.

What varies, however, is the purpose and expectations of the criminals in the targeted areas.

For instance, in north Delhi’s Prashant Vihar, which has regularly featured in the top 10 list of snatching hot spots in the city, local residents cite secluded roads, easy access through arterial roads, and close proximity to unauthorised colonies and slum clusters as some of the primary reasons behind rampant snatchings and robberies.

The ease with which snatchers operate in this area has prompted residents to change the way they move about. Manju Uppal, who lives in Sita Apartments at Prashant Vihar said: “There are many parks around the residential areas here, which are not well-lit, and are secluded especially after dark. There have been so many incidents of snatchings here that we have stopped stepping out wearing or carrying anything expensive.”

Police officers who have investigated snatchings and robberies say that snatchers usually move on motorbikes, and operate in pairs. They said these criminals target people with high-end phones, women wearing jewellery in upscale areas such as Vasant Vihar, Greater Kailash, and Defence Colony, and businessmen carrying cash in busy markets such as Chandni

Chowk, Gandhi Nagar, and Azadpur. In lower-income areas, gold chains and phones are the primary targets, the investigators added.

Kamla Bisht, 42, is still going through the trauma she suffered when three snatchers, all minors, stabbed her husband multiple times on June 25 and left him to die on the streets of Sultanpuri’s Jalebi Chowk, when he tried to resist them from taking away his cell phone and wallet that had Rs 700.

The police said the boys were looking for money to buy liquor when they targeted Ravinder Bisht, 48.

A police officer familiar with the details of this case said the juveniles may have been regular snatchers, but that there is no way for police to confirm this because the current law does not allow them to keep a record of juveniles. “90% of the juveniles who are apprehended for crimes in Delhi are snatchers. In fact, snatching is the gateway offence into the crime world. This is why it has become so common across the city,” said the officer who asked not to be named.

Former Delhi police officer, LN Rao, who worked in the force for over three decades and retired as a deputy commissioner of police (DCP), said: “These snatchers are everywhere. These days when a young criminal needs money, all he needs to do is to go on the road and snatch a person’s phone or a woman’s necklace. Unlike other crimes, it does not need planning. It is time the police made a concerted effort to crack down on these hoodlums on the road.”

Another retired Delhi Police officer, Ashok Chand, who headed the crime branch and the special cell units, said the current laws that deal with snatching are inadequate. “In Haryana, the law has been made stringent. These snatchers will only stop if they are put behind bars for a longer time. Also, it is important for police to crack every link of this crime ring. Not just the snatchers, the police should also crack down on the people who buy stolen items from these criminals,” Chand said.

The Haryana government made snatching a non-bailable in 2015 by inserting sections in 379A and 379B of the Indian Penal Code and in schedule 1 of the code of criminal procedure (CRPC).

In Delhi, cases of snatching are currently registered under two sections — 379 (theft) and 356 (use of criminal force). The offender is given a maximum punishment of three years under sections of theft and two years for use of criminal force.

The Delhi Police has proposed that like Haryana snatchers should be booked under Section 379 A (simple snatching without use of force) and Section 379 B (use of criminal force in snatching). The minimum jail term under 379 A is five years, which could go up to 10 years. Under 379 B, the minimum jail term is 10 years, and a maximum of 14 years. The amendments make snatching a non-bailable offences. The proposal is pending approval by the Lieutenant Governor.

An HT analysis of the profile of snatchers arrested between 2018 and 2020 shows that at least 90% of those arrested were caught for the first time, and did not have a prior criminal record. Police registered them as “first-time offenders”, and noticed that they were often pushed into committing crimes either because of unemployment after being pulled out of schools or lured by other criminals in their neighbourhood — a trend that has become more worrisome since the Covid-19 outbreak.

The story of one of Delhi’s most notorious gangsters, Sandeep Kala points to how street crime is a gateway to more heinous offences. Kala, who is currently one of the most wanted men in the city, accused of crimes such as murder, extortion and robbery, was first arrested in 2004 for snatching a mobile phone at Samaypur Badli.

Several Delhi Police officers, who asked not to be named, agree that while other crimes such as burglary, vehicle theft, and even pickpocketing need expertise and logistical support, snatchings and robberies on streets only need a high-speed bike and some basic practice on how to snatch an item. It is the reason that many first-timers are involved in these street crimes.

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said curbing street crime and making citizens safe is the topmost priority for the force. “In his first meeting with senior officers after taking charge on June 30, the police commissioner directed that street crime should be the top priority. Criminals should not be able to dominate any road in the city. Our personnel at the police stations regularly conduct street patrolling and area domination exercises. We are mapping crime by identifying trends, their occurrence, and preventing it at many levels. Our mobile patrolling teams keep a close watch on vulnerable stretches. All anti-snatching teams have been activated. The crime branch and special cell are also working on busting these snatching gangs. We are even cracking down on receivers of stolen property so that all members of a crime ring are put behind bars.”

Biswal said the police are also making efforts to stop youngsters from taking to the crime. “While we are an enforcement and investigative agency, Delhi police also runs a programme to identify juveniles or teenagers who are vulnerable and could go the wrong way. Across the city, police stations have tied up with different agencies and we train them in different skills, and help them find jobs under our Yuva scheme.”

He added that comparing data from two different years may not be enough to predict a trend because of the involvement of a lot of factors. “It will not be correct to compare number of cases compared to last year. We had the lockdown last year. Fewer people were on the roads.”

Biswal added that the police have arrested snatchers this year till June 15, compared to the corresponding period last year.