Special squads train guns on attention diversion gangs

Plainclothes police personnel are being deployed on buses and near banks to catch thieves who distract people and steal from them

A woman was sitting in an MTC bus that had halted at Chennai Central. She noticed a man making an attempt to steal a mobile phone from a passenger who was alighting from the bus. She immediately pounced on the thief, overpowered him and led him away. That’s when it dawned on the passengers that she was a policewoman in plainclothes.

The policewoman is part of one of the anti-snatching teams formed by the city police to nab those who steal mobile phones and chains on MTC buses by diverting the attention of passengers.

These teams are also assigned the task of nabbing attention diversion gangs that target customers leaving banks after making a withdrawal. The teams have been formed in all the 12 police jurisdictions based on an order by Commissioner T.K. Rajendran. “A team primarily consists of a woman inspector, two sub-inspectors and four other constables. The composition can however change,” said Usha Rani, inspector, Port Marine Station, who is part of an anti-snatching team.

The women personnel wait in a bus stand and keep track of those moving about suspiciously. “They follow them into the bus. We have caught four persons red-handed near Chennai Central, on the routes 1 A, 29, 32 A and 32 B,” she said.

A police officer from an anti-snatching team in T. Nagar said that criminals found it difficult to identify the police personnel as young recruits were deployed.

“Many of the gang members enter at the same time and steal valuables while making their children divert the attention of the passengers,” said an officer.

The teams travel by bus mainly during rush hour.

“After this, we maintain a vigil near the banks to nab gangs that divert the attention of people who are coming out. These gangs mainly target elderly persons and women,” explained a police officer from Mylapore.

Even as the police say they will be able to reduce snatching and attention-diversion crimes, residents say the initiative should be sustained.

“With the elections nearing, most of the police personnel will be used for bandobast and other duties. Such teams should not be disturbed,” said S. Solomon, a resident of Anna Nagar.