On February 14, when R. Manikandan was walking on a road in Puzhal, three persons on a motorbike waylaid him, snatched his phone, and sped away.
The accused, all juveniles, who were identified with the help of CCTV cameras, were soon nabbed.
In the same month, a college student and his juvenile accomplice landed in the police net at around 1 a.m. after they stole the mobile phone of a Meenambakkam resident at knife-point.
The two had been on a snatching spree starting from 2 p.m. that day, covering a stretch from Maduravoyal to near Pallavaram, where they were caught. Nearly 15 high-end mobile phones were recovered from them.
According to statistics provided by the city police, this year, over 112 cases of mobile phone snatching have been reported till date.
Of these, 43 cases were reported in the Adyar, St. Thomas Mount and T. Nagar police districts.
“South and central Chennai see more cases of mobile phone snatching than other areas. People on early morning walks, joggers and the elderly are easy targets,” said a police officer.
Lonely stretches and roads that are ill-lit during the evening or night are familiar hunting grounds for the chain snatchers.
Young offenders
Police claim that the age group of the offenders is often between 14 and 20. They are also investigating if children are being used for such crimes.
In some cases, the juveniles, from economically poor backgrounds, steal the high-end phones to show off to their friends. But most often, it is to purchase alcohol and drugs, the police say. The ease with which the loot can be sold is a lure.
Often, the victim does not lodge a complaint at the police station and in some instances , the police do not register an FIR for stolen mobile phones. Senior police officers have observed that nearly 90% of the offenders are juveniles.
“It is not possible to send juveniles to prison. They can only be sent to the Government Observation Home, and that is not seen as sufficient deterrence,” said a senior police officer.
Girija Kumar Babu, child rights activist and member of the District Juvenile Justice Board, said, “We are seeing many cases of juveniles getting involved in mobile snatching. Even 13-year-old boys have been produced before the board. Most of them committed the act for easy money. We counsel them not to repeat the offence, and let them go.”
Nabbing suspects
In order to nab the chain and mobile snatchers, the police have intensified night patrolling. “We have the anti-snatching squad comprising one assistant commissioner and three inspectors. They patrol places frequented by walkers and runners,” added an officer. He said the biggest challenge in nabbing the suspects is that most of them are first-time offenders.
“In other crimes, we go by the modus operandi and we have a database of the offenders and can identify them. But in chain and mobile phone snatching cases, this is not possible,” said an officer.
