CHENNAI:A 28-year-old cell phone snatcher who tried to escape was nabbed by a constable who was patrolling near the Central railway station on Tuesday night, after a chase.Police said S Mani, 56, a native of Tiruvannamalai had come to meet his relative. “He had got off the train and was waiting at the bus stop outside the railway station to board a bus to Moolakadai to go to his relative’s house. The suspect, Manju, was waiting near Mani and in a fraction of second, snatched the cell phone kept in his shirt pocket and escaped,” said Ravi, Inspector of Flower Bazaar police station, who was at the scene when the incident occurred.
“It had just then stopped raining and we had reached Central railway station bus stop to ensure everything was safe as it was crowded. A few minutes later, we heard Mani raising an alarm that his phone was snatched,” the inspector said.
Police constable Ahamed Hussain, who was along with the inspector patrolling the same spot, chased Manju who jumped over the median amidst traffic and boarded a bus coming from Parrys.However, Ahamed did not give up and nabbed the man after a chase. Investigation revealed that Manju from Dharmapuri had come to the city 10 days ago. He had come to meet his relative who was hospitalised. “Since he did not have money, he decided to snatch mobile phones,” a source said.
Flower Bazaar police have registered a case and the mobile phone was handed back to Mani. On Wednesday, city police Commissioner A K Viswanathan praised the constable and rewarded him for his swift action.
3 held, tobacco products seized
Chennai: City police arrested three men at Triplicane on Tuesday and seized 10 sacks of gutka worth `1 lakh worth from their residence. “Acting on a tip-off, a special team of five police personnel headed by Inspector of Triplicane V Rajapandi, raided a house on the Raza Hyder Ali Khan road in Triplicane in the late hours on Tuesday. We arrested two dealers who led us to the distributor,” said a senior police officer.