The Hindu : Women chain snatchers strike at temple festival

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Women chain snatchers strike at temple festival

By S. Shivakumar

CHENNAI July 15. A gang of women chain snatchers struck during a temple festival at Perambur this morning and relieved five women devotees of their gold chains, totally weighing about 30 sovereigns.

The brazen ``operation'' of these women chain snatchers caught the police by surprise, and rendered the efforts they had made, including videography of the proceedings, futile.

They mingled with the crowd posing as devotees during the kumbhabhishekam of Dhandayuthapani Thirukkoil on Temple Road in Jawahar Nagar. They took away the chains from the victims when they were engrossed with the religious ritual. Police claimed that they had definite clues about the gang. Their modus operandi is to target women devotees at temple festivals. While one woman would cut the gold chain, her associate would collect it as it fell to the ground. The other associates would keep pushing the victim to divert her attention.

A woman suspect was picked up later in the evening.

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