The Puducherry police on Thursday arrested three persons accused of chain snatching, and recovered ₹1 lakh in cash and 29 grams of gold jewellery from them.
Addressing mediapersons, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Rajiv Ranjan, said that Sithanandam alias Sugumar (40) of Lawspet, Kumaran (33) and his wife Eswari (28) of Kandoctor Thottam were the accused.
“The North sub-division was witnessing a surge in chain snatching for the past couple of months. Hence, a team led by SP (North), Rachna Singh, was formed to crack down on the culprits,” he added.
On March 20, a case of chain snatching was reported in Lawspet police station. The complainant, Sasireka, had reported that on a motorbike snatched her gold ‘mangala suthra’ (thali) weighing 29 grams.
“The police team studied cases with similar modus-operandi and mounted surveillance on known snatchers in Puducherry and neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu. They singled out two suspects and laid separate traps for them. Due to continuous surveillance, one accused — Sithanandam alias Sugumar surrendered in Puducherry court on April 5. “He was taken into police custody and his sustained interrogation revealed that his gang comprising Kumaran and Eswari were also part of the crime. The two men would snatch the chains while the woman disposed off the stolen gold jewellery without raising suspicion of the jewellers. Kumaran and Eswari were arrested on April 13,” said the SSP.
Mr. Ranjan appealed to jewellers in Puducherry to maintain a register for purchasing old jewellery including details of the quantity of the jewellery, name, address and valid ID proof of the seller in order to avoid purchase of stolen jewellery.
