HYDERABAD: Cocking a snook at policemen in three commisionerates in Hyderabad, a petty criminal snatched not one, not two, but five chains from women’s necks on Wednesday.
The offender, who is still at large, started his chain-snatching spree at 10 am and targeted his victims till around 5 pm. Officials said he make a sixth attempt too but failed to get the chain.
This unknown accused initially committed the offences in Marredpally, Tukaramgate, Petbasheerabad and Medipally using a stolen bike. He was wearing a cap and a jacket. The victims lost nearly 20 tolas of gold chains. One of the victims, fell down and suffered scratches after the accused pulled her chain off her neck.
Fifty-five-year-old Vijaya was the first victim. She was walking alone at Indrapuri Railway colony when the motorcycle-borne snatcher came from behind, grabbed her 5 tola gold chain and sped away. “Vijaya is a resident of Sanjeevaiah Nagar. She had gone to a nearby nursing home to meet her daughter. The snatching took place when she was returning home,” Marredpally inspector M Mattaiah told TOI.
From Marredpally, the accused entered the adjacent Tukaramgate police station limits. This time he targeted 65-year-old Rambai while she was walking on the road. The accused came from the opposite direction and snatched her 2.5 tola of gold chain. From here, he entered Cyberabad and committed two snatchings besides a failed attempt all in a span of just an hour.
By this time, police officials in Tukaramgate and Marredpally had started the investigation. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage confirmed that the accused in both cases was the same and he was using the same bike.
Using the registration number of the assailant’s vehicle, police tried to trace the owner only to find out that the bike was stolen a day earlier from Asif Nagar. The bike owner had parked his vehicle in front of his shop and left the keys in the ignition making it easy for the accused to steal it.
In Petbasheerabad, offences took place in Raghavendra colony and Jeedimetla village, where the victims Anuradha and Vara Lakshmi lost gold chains.
