Chain-snatchers strike 4 times in 50 minutes

NASHIK: Snatchers struck four times in less than an hour in various parts of the city and escaped with gold chains worth Rs 2.50 lakh on Thursday evening even as the police remained busy keeping tabs on robbers targeting citizens leaving banks with cash.
The police on Friday said they have intensified checking of vehicles at all entry points of the city.The police suspected that the criminals worked in teams to carry out four snatchings almost simultaneously — the first and the fourth strikes occurring within a span of only 50 minutes.
The first incident took place in the Bhabhanagar area of Bhadrakali around 2.40 pm. Manisha Pandharpurkar (42), a resident of Ganraj Apartment, Bhabhanagar, was walking down near a bungalow in her area when two persons on a bike came close to her and the one riding pillion forcibly snatched the gold chain worth Rs 65,000. The two fled even before Pandharpurkar could react.
The second strike came barely five minutes later — this time in the Vinaynagar area. Jaishree Mule (44), who stays at Damyanti Apartment in Vinaynagar, was waiting in front of her building when she was targeted by two motorcycle-borne miscreants. This time too, the pillion rider snatched her chain worth Rs 75,000 and the duo sped away.
Twenty five minutes later, another gold chain worth Rs 40,000 was snatched from Charushila Pisolkar (51), a resident of Sri Ganesh Row House, Vahaje Mala, Dindori Road. She was walking down the Kalanagar area of Panchavati around 3.10 pm two bike-borne criminals robbed her.
The final incident took place at Indiranagar around 3.30 pm, and this time the victim was 47-year-old Chaitra Hudalikar of Rameshwar Apartment, Indiranagar. She was waiting in the parking of another apartment when two bike-borne persons approached on the pretext of looking for some address and the one riding pillion snatched her gold chain worth Rs 70,000. By the time Hudalikar could raise an alarm, the duo had fled.
Deputy commissioner of police Vijay Patil said though they were trying to keep the crime rate down, citizens should also be more careful with their jewellery and cash. “We believe that the chain-snatchers involved in Thursday’s incidents are hardened criminals and are not from Nashik City,” he added.
Burglaries, chain snatchings, house break-ins and robberies have been occurring in the city frequently, leaving the citizens in a shock. Between August 25 and August 28, there were three instances of criminals targeting people coming out of banks with cash. In July, there were three back-to-back robberies. On July 7, a person carrying Rs 5 lakh and riding pillion on a bike was robbed of his cash near Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan. The same day around 5 pm, a motorist was robbed of Rs 6.50 lakh by four bikers near Kathe Galli signal on the Nashik-Pune highway. On July 11, one person was robbed of Rs 5 lakh after he had withdrawn the amount from a bank and was on his way to office at Dwarka.