Chain-snatchers had a free run in the capital on Monday, as they struck five times within four hours in the jurisdiction of Hyderabad and Cyberabad commissionerates.
The offenders riding a black two-wheeler, believed to be Pulsar, apparently targeted old women. So audacious were the offenders that they took away chains from three women as the latter were standing outside their respective homes.
The first victim was 55-year-old Alivelu Manga in NGO Colony.
She was cleaning the floor in front of the house around 7.20 a.m. when a youngster approached her. “Who designed the front gate madam?” asked the stranger coolly pointing at the colourfully painted grills of the gate.
“I thought he could be a resident of the colony and tried to answer. Even before I could speak, he snatched my chain,” Ms. Manga told reporters later. Recovering from shock, the woman tried to hold the chain with her hands.
While a part of the ‘mangalsutra’ remained in her hands, a part of the broken chain was taken away by the offender. He jumped onto the bike which his associate was waiting a few yards away and they rode off.
Nearly 20 to 25 minutes later, the bikers struck in the same colony. Septuagenarian Kusuma Kumari was standing behind the main gate of her house when the snatcher walked up to her. In the guise of asking address, he came close to her even as the gate was close.
“The guy put his hand through the empty space of the gate, pulled my chain, walked briskly towards his accomplice waiting with a bike and they sped away,” Ms. Kumari explained. By the time the first victim approached the Vanasthalipuram police, the offenders had already made off with the chain from the second woman.
Police alerted the patrol vans, Blue Clot teams and the special teams formed to nab chain-snatchers. Even as the police teams fanned onto the roads and frantically searching for suspects, the snatchers struck for third time an hour later.
This time they targeted a housewife walking back home after dropping children at school. Krishnaveni, 35, was passing by Dwarakanagar when the offenders came from behind, pulled her mangalsutra and sped away.
These three chain snatchings were committed in Vanasthalipuram police station area. An hour later, the gang stuck at Road No. 5 in Saraswathinagar. Seventy-year-old Dameramma was walking towards her house carrying mud for the plants when the snatcher came from side, pulled her chain and sped away.
Chandrayangutta police said they received information about a chain-snatching in Bandlaguda area, but no specific complaint was made. “We are verifying the report,” they said.
Police alert patrol vans, Blue Clot teams and special teams to nab the culprits
