Now chain snatchers will face five-year jail in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday cleared additional provisions in the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code to make punishment for offences of chain-snatching stringent. As per the new provisions, offenders could be penalised with a minimum of two-year rigorous imprisonment, up to a maximum of five years.

A new provision to punish those who grievously injure the victims with a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine will also be incorporated. The Cabinet cleared amendments to section 379, 379-A (1) (2), and 379-B (punishment for theft) in the Indian Penal Code, 1880, and the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. The new provisions are a deterrent to rising incidents of snatching of gold chains and jewellery from women.

Maharashtra will follow similar amendments made by Punjab in 2010 and Haryana in 2015. Both States have made the offence non-bailable, and increased the jail term to a minimum of five years which could be extended up to 10 years. Punjab has fixed a fine of Rs 10,000, while Haryana has increased it to Rs 25,000.

Chain snatching has over the last 10 years become a challenge for the Mumbai Police. They have started invoking the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in such cases.

Officials said the last decade has seen the emergence of ‘inter-state’ chain snatchers, where accused travel from one state to another, spend a few days committing the crime, and go back to their hometowns, where the proceeds of the crime are sold. As the accused are not locals, it is difficult for the police to get leads on their whereabouts through local informants.

Around three years ago, the police found that several of the chain snatching accused fit the parameters necessary for invoking the MCOCA.