Three youths give chase to men fleeing with gold chain, catch one of them

BANGALORE - 25.07.2010 : The Bangalore City Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidari (R) greeting Venkatesh, Anantha, and Anil Kumar, who chased and caught one culprit, who tried to snatch away a gold chain near MES College in Vidyaranyapura Police Station Limits, at the office of Commissioner of Police, on Infantry road in Bangalore on July 25, 2010. Photo : K Murali Kumar.

For 22-year-old Anil Kumar and his group of six friends, Saturday evening was like any of their weekend meets in the vicinity of MES College in Vidyaranyapura till they heard the shouts of help from a woman, whose gold chain had been snatched. Immediately, Kumar and his two friends chased the offenders, who were running away with the chain, and managed to catch one of them, but not before injuring themselves in the process.

Anil Kumar and his two friends, S. Ananth and V. Venkatesh, responded to the call from Nalini and helped her get back the gold chain that had been snatched. Ananth was able to catch a 22-year-old man, who was among the two who had snatched the gold chain. Ananth did not let go the 22-year-old man offender despite being attacked with a knife.

On Saturday, Anil Kumar, a resident of Tindlu, met his friends at a shop near MES College. “As we were discussing about my new motorcycle, I heard the call of the woman whose gold chain had been snatched. She was pointing towards an autorickshaw,” Mr. Kumar said. Immediately Kumar started his motorcycle and chased the autorickshaw along with his friend Venkatesh, while Mr. Ananth followed Kumar on his motorcycle. After about a kilometre, the autorickshaw driver rammed Kumar's motorcycle. Kumar and Venkatesh fell off the motorcycle and suffered injuries. Soon thereafter, the 22-year-old accused in the autorickshaw got off the vehicle and started running away.

Ananth stopped his motorcycle and started giving chase to the accused. While Kumar could not recover from the fall, Venkatesh resumed the chase. “We did not stop even as the accused jumped a five-foot high compound wall. I followed him and caught him. I did not allow him to escape even after he swiped a knife at me,” Mr. Ananth said.

Ananth, Kumar and Venkatesh called other friends and handed over the accused to the Vidyaranyapura police.

Reward

Appreciating the exemplary conduct of the three, Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari presented a reward of Rs. 10,000 each to Mr. Kumar and Mr. Ananth. Mr. Bidari presented Rs. 5,000 to Mr. Venkatesh. “Youngsters like you should come forward and work for prevention of crime,” Mr. Bidari told the three youth. He said the police will bear all the expenses of treatment of Ananth and Kumar.