About a month ago, Ch. Suresh, a habitual chain-snatcher was arrested by the Visakhapatnam city police. The offender was in his early 20s and had taken to crime early in his life. He had committed over 25 offences in the last four years and during interrogation he reportedly confessed that he took to chain-snatching, as it was the easiest of all offences.
His modus operandi is simple; he would target lonely women in the early hours of the day or in the evening, when many of them go to temples or for walking or to the market. Coming on a bike, wearing a helmet, he would approach them at good speed and when the women are caught unawares, seizing that split second opportunity, he would snatch the chain and speed away.
This is the modus operandi of many chain-snatchers and they normally target elderly and middle-aged women, said ACP (East), Visakhapatnam, A. Narasimha Murthy.
Youth getting hooked
Being one of the easiest crime to commit, many youth, including educated ones, are taking to the crime.
A few months ago, the city police arrested a youth on charges of chain-snatching. The youth was caught when he allegedly tried to sell the booty at a jewellery store in the Old Town area. On investigation, the police found out that the youth an engineering student in a private college and he reportedly took to crime to buy a high-end cellphone for his girlfriend.
While 85% of the chain snatchers are youth in the age group of 18 to 30 years, about 20 % of them are educated boys, including a few studying engineering.
Addiction to vices
The main reason for youth taking to crime is vices. “Many of the youth are getting addicted to vices such as alcohol and drugs. To fund the vices, they are taking to crime,” said ADCP (Crime) S. Varadaraju.
According to the official, it has been observed that many of them commit the crime ‘on the spur of the moment’. “We have detected a few cases, wherein the chain snatchers were on a drinking binge and once the bottles are empty, they resorted to another chain-snatching only to fund their indulgence. This impulsive nature is dangerous and could be a worrying factor, as from being petty chain-snatchers they can become murderers,” said Mr. Varadaraju.
Addiction to drugs, liquor and gambling is playing havoc with the lives of such people. They need money to fund their vices and it has to come fast without much effort. “This is luring many youngsters to the path of crime. Most of them confess that they prefer the short-cut either to settle down or to fund their vices,” said ACP Narasimha Murthy.
