A special team of the city police on Tuesday nabbed a three-member gang that had snatched gold chains from middle-aged women across the city over the past few months.
According to the police, on May 19, chain-snatching incidents were reported in Vadapalani, K.K. Nagar and Virugambakkam during the morning hours. After a few days, similar offences were reported in Tirumangalam, Pondy Bazaar, Ashok Nagar, K.K. Nagar and Valsaravakkam.
The special team, led by Joint Commissioner of Police Prem Anand Sinha, began investigating the case. It got the last few digits of a motorbike’s registration number from a CCTV grab.
The bike in question had been stolen and was later found abandoned near Red Hills. When the police approached the owner, he narrated how he lost the vehicle.
“The team visited the spot from where the bike was stolen and upon inspecting the CCTV footage, found a gang getting out of an SUV and taking the bike,” said a senior police officer.
The police found that the perpetrators were a three-member Iranian gang from Karnataka. They were identified as Ambadoss, Navabali and Abas. “This month too they committed chain-snatching offences in J.J. Nagar, Tirumangalam and Puzhal areas. We came to know that they were in the city again and started tracking them. They were headed towards Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and we alerted the police there. They intercepted the gang on Tuesday,” said a police officer.
Modus operandi
Investigations revealed that the gang would leave Karnataka at night in a car and arrive in Chennai in the morning.
“Upon arriving in the city, they would steal a bike and commit the offences. After this, they would take the same taxi back to Karnataka through Andhra Pradesh,” said a police officer.
