Elusive chain-snatcher lands in police net

Hyderabad: A chain-snatcher allegedly involved in 11 cases under three Commissionerate limits was arrested by the Task Force on Thursday. He dodged the police for long time. The police claimed to have recovered gold ornaments weighing about 311 grams, Rs 1.25 lakh cash and two two-wheelers all worth Rs 12 lakhs. 

According to police, the accused Mir Ayyan Ali Khan, a native of Jalgoan in Maharashtra, was residing in Talabkatta in Old City, working as marble flooring worker.  In the year 2010 he migrated to Hyderabad and was involved in a theft case of Saidabad and remanded in Chanchalguda Jail in 2011. He befriended another accused Syed Ahmed Ali. 

In the year 2014, the prime accused met one Harinder Singh alias Bablu, a native of Uttar Pradesh. The trio formed a gang and committed 11 chain-snatchings prompting police to invoke PD (Prevention Detention) Act against Ayyan and Ahmed.

In February 2017, the prime accused Ayyan was released from jail after completion of term of sentence.  He started eking out a living by driving auto for few days. But his earnings were not sufficient to meet his lavish expenses. He again met Bablu and Ahmed. They again committed chain snatchings in Hyderabad, Rachakonda and Cyberabad Commissionerates limits. 

In the latest spree, he along with his associates Ahmed and Bablu had committed 11 chain-snatchings under the limits of police stations which included Langer Houz , Osmania University , Amberpet , Gandhi Nagar , Malakpet , Narsingi , Uppal , Medipally , Rajendra Nagar of Hyderabad, Rachakonda  and Cyberabad Commissionerates. 

In the recent past, the police arrested several offenders with the help of CCTV footage. However, the accused Ayyan, who is a avid reader of Hindi newspaper, had learnt that police can successfully nab criminals with the help of CCTV footage. So, he took precaution not to get exposed in the cameras. Whenever he came out for snatching (even in by-lanes) he covered his face with helmet and the pillion rider with a mask. 

He also replaced the vehicle number with fake ones. After committing offence, he never took the crime vehicle to his residence, but parked it somewhere at a faraway place, as he feared that police may track down his vehicle’s movement.  

“Due to above precautions, the police said the accused could commit snatchings for about eight months. But, the South Zone Task Force Police tracked the entire route movement of the accused and finally zeroed in on a location frequently visited by snatcher and kept a watch over him for more than a month and finally nabbed the snatcher,” said the City Police Commissioner V V Srinivasa Rao.

The accused along with recovered property was handed over to the Malakpet police station for taking further action. Two more accused are still at large.