The city police have chalked out a strategy to check chain-snatching crimes by photographing suspects prowling on city roads on high-speed motorcycles. The major handicap of the police in detecting chain-snatching cases is that the victims are not able to give specific identification such as registration number of vehicles, the make of the vehicle and the unique features of the criminals.
Besides, the recent arrests made by the district and city police have revealed that many of the accused were first-time offenders. This means the profile of these persons are not available in the police records. “With no clue given by the victims and no records available with us, investigation becomes difficult,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) R. Tamil Chandran said. One of the college students involved in at least five chain-snatching incidents had reportedly told the investigators that he was “trained” by his seniors on ways to escape from the police. The boy was told that women must be targeted, especially the aged, who will not be able to provide useful clue to the police. “We have planned to give digital cameras to two-wheeler patrol teams who will randomly take photographs of bike-borne suspects. The photographs can be shown to the victims for identifying the chain-snatchers,” Mr. Tamil Chandran said.
The city police have 15 two-wheeler patrols moving on different arterial roads to check the crime. Besides, the crime police personnel also move around in crowded and crime-prone areas, he added.
The Deputy Commissioner said that photographing of the chain-snatchers will instil a sense of fear among the criminals because they thrive on anonymity.
Mr. Tamil Chandran said such an experiment in Pudukottai district, where he was the Superintendent of Police, brought down the number of chain-snatching cases.
