The city police on Monday arrested four youths on the charge of their involvement in 13 chain-snatching cases in the past few months in the city.
The arrested were identified as V. Chinna (23), N. Manikanta (23), S. Satish (21), D. Prem Kumar (21), all native of One Town and Maharanipeta areas.
Addressing newsmen, DCP (Crime) T. Ravi Kumar Murthy said that all the accused were school dropouts and had committed chain- snatchings in Maharanipeta, PM Palem, III Town, II Town, IV Town, Pendurthi, and Anakapalle in the month of February, March, and April this year.
In all, they had stolen about 40 gm of gold and the police recovered 21 gm.
Explaining their modus operandi, the DCP said that the accused generally committed the crime between 5 a.m. and 6.30 a.m.
“They concentrated on lonely women on morning walk or temple-goers. They would conduct a recce at least a day before committing the crime and target the gullible women,” said Mr. Ravi Kumar Murthy.
The police had formed special teams to nab the culprits and arrested the accused on Monday based on a tip-off.
The police also recovered three motorcycles from the accused.
According to the DCP, two of the accused — Chinna and Manikanta — were earlier involved in petty cases.
According to ADCP S. Varada Raju, there is slight drop in chain-snatching incidents in the city.
As per the records, in 2013, there were 183 cases and in 2014 their number was 158. This year till July, there were 85 recorded cases.
