Chain snatcher escapes from the doorstep of the victim

Highlight: An employee of a private firm became the latest victim of chain snatching, right in front of her doorstep. The thief was around 25-30 years old and lost her 40 gram mangalsutra. 

BENGALURU: On February 6, an incident which took place in Vinayaka Layout near Chinnapanahalli, where Jasmine (name changed), who is an employee of a private firm was returning home from the office around 8.30 PM. As she entered her neighbourhood, she saw a man, who belonged to the age group of between 25 and 30 years of age, following her on his KTM Duke bike. He was wearing a black helmet and a black leather jacket.

Immediately Jasmine realised that her 40 gram mangalsutra had been snatched, right outside her doorstep. She screamed for help but before her neighbours could come out of their homes, the chain snatcher had escaped on his bike. The whole act has been recorded on CCTV cameras which are installed at the house of the neighbour. A complaint has been registered at the HAL police station.

Jasmine has said that, “I was shaken and felt violated that someone followed me to my doorstep to snatch my chain. Many chain snatching incidents have happened here in the last month (January) but perhaps this is the first time that someone has dared to come as far as a house’s threshold. Though my neighbours tried to nab him, the man managed to flee the spot. These types of incidents make us feel unsafe and police officials should take strict action in controlling these types of crimes.”

One of the police officials had said that, “The complainant does not know Kannada and there has been some mistake while registering the FIR. The chain snatcher was on the bike and snatched the victim’s chain while he was on the bike. It’s not true that he snatched the chain while she was entering her house. Usually chain snatchers never get off their bikes. Recently, there have been many reports of miscreants on Duke bikes snatching chains and officials are in search of them. The complainant’s version that the chain snatcher got down from the bike and followed the victim till the 1st floor of the building is quite impossible. Anyway, we are investigating the case and the miscreant will be taken into custody soon.”

The complaint has been filed at the HAL police station under the section 380 (theft in dwelling house), despite the police insisting that the miscreant could not have entered the house.

Neeraj Gupta, a software engineer said, “Chain snatching has increased in the area. There have been three incidents of chain snatching in a month. Vinayaka layout has become a haven for miscreants since there is no security or police presence in this area.