CHENNAI : With city police maintaining high vigil during the night, snatchers are finding ways to loot victims during waking hours. Four chain-snatching incidents were reported in five hours in Mylapore on Monday evening. Police suspect the same group to be involved in all the four incidents as they targeted the victims in a similar way. In the first incident, B Naga Arjun, 23, of MGR Nagar works as a relationship manager at a private bank in the city. “On Monday evening, at around 4.15 he was speaking on the phone and walking on C P Ramasamy Salai, when two bike-borne men came from behind, snatched his mobile phone worth `15,000 and escaped,” said a police source.
The victim raised an alarm but the men managed to escape. He later lodged a complaint with the Abiramapuram police station at around 8 pm. Three hours later, Sarathy, 25, was walking on Munndakanni Amman Kovil Street in Mylapore speaking over the phone when two bike-borne men crossed him. “The men again came back and snatched his mobile phone and escaped,” the victim had mentioned in his complaint.
An hour later, P Arumugam, 50 was walking on Royapettah High Road in Mylapore near his house. “At around 8.10 pm, he received a call and was talking when two men, on an Activa, came from behind and the pillion rider snatched Arumugam’s phone and escaped,” said the police officer. The phone was worth `18,000, the victim mentioned in his complaint at the Mylapore police station. A kilometer away, in half an hour, another 26-year-old R Sekar, an IT profession was robbed.
“I was walking near the Royapettah Mortuary Road at around 8.55 pm speaking over the phone with my grandmother. It was hardly seven seconds before I could realise that the men snatched my mobile phone and escaped. They were not wearing any helmet nor had they covered their face with a handkerchief. I only saw them speed through the traffic in their Activa scooter,” said Sekar who spoke to Express over the phone.
Sekar, who hails from Andhra Pradesh had moved to the city two months ago. He works in an IT company and resides at the Royapettah High Road. “On Monday, he had gone to have dinner along with his friends and was returning to his room, when the duo snatched his mobile phone worth `15,000,” added the police.
A special team of police has been formed to trace the suspects. Police are gathering CCTV footage from
the locality. After a spate of nighttime robberies was reported earlier this month, police teams were deployed almost in every major road in two shifts in the night hours, yet, snatchers are finding ways to loot people.
Precautions
● Be alert of your surroundings
● Be aware of how your carry your belongings
● Take note of where you place valuables
● Keep an eye on valuables in restaurants