A couple of days back, a young man was seen running on the busy South Marret Street shouting, “catch him… he just snatched a gold chain from an aged woman….” This was enough to spur the curious pedestrians and shoppers into action and the angry public over-powered the robber and recovered the four-sovereign gold chain, which belonged to an 86-year-old woman Rukmani. The police were informed and the robber was taken into custody and put behind bars.
In another such case, a Sub-Inspector, a policeman, a woman attached with the Home Guards and a few spirited public gave a hot chase to a chain snatcher on the West Masi Street, yet another cramped stretch, where a 60-year-old woman Padmavathi of Tirunagar lost her six sovereign gold chain.
As the shocked woman was being comforted by some of the passers-by, the rest managed to catch the accused red-handed.
Appreciating the pro-active approach of the public, Inspector General and Commissioner of Police Sanjay Mathur presented a token reward to these youngsters on Thursday. He said this Good Samaritan attitude should spread among the people and this would help the police bring down crimes like chain snatching.
The number of patrol teams has been increased and many new beats introduced, the CoP said and added that such spontaneous acts by the public would discourage law offenders. The enthusiasm shown by the public is also a good opportunity for police to get closer with the citizens, an Inspector of Police said.
