HYDERABAD : Police fired in the air after four college students tried to steal a mobile phone from a cop in mufti near a bus stand at Mettuguda here in the early hours of Saturday.
According to police, the incident took place on Saturday around 2.30 am and nobody was injured. The students, have surrendered and questioning is on, police added.
“Decoy operations are underway and the gang was trying to snatch the phone from one of the cops who was made to stand near the bus stand,” a senior official revealed. “We were trying to lure snatchers by positioning our men to look like a meek common person at the bus stand,” he added.
As soon as the gang tried snatching the mobile from the cop, the other members of the decoy team, who were standing at a distance, sprang into action. When the students tried to retaliate, the police fired a round in the air and ensured that they were apprehended.
During the course of the investigation, police found that the four students do not have a history of criminal offence. However, they are used to smoking and travelling at odd hours in the night. “This time, they tried to snatch a mobile and we have registered a case against them,” police said.
In recent times, a series of mobile snatching cases and murders have been reported. Hence, police have increased night patrolling teams. With a special focus on mobile snatching, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Kothakota Sreenivasa Reddy had earlier noted that police are identifying hot spots in the city and increasing security in these areas.