CHENNAI: In a dramatic end to a series of six chain snatching incidents that happened in the city within a span of 1 hour and 10 minutes on Tuesday morning.
Two suspects directly involved in the crime were nabbed in the nick of time by Greater Chennai Police when they were about to flee by flight (from Chennai airport) soon after committing the crime.
Based on the information shared by the duo during interrogation, their accomplice, who had boarded a train from Chennai Central station to Hyderabad, was arrested at Ongole in Andhra Pradesh with the help of the Railway Police Force.
A release from the police identified the two arrested from the airport as Jaffar Ghulam Hussain Irani and Misamum Dushwasam Mesam Irani. The third arrested from Ongole was identified as Salman Hussain. All hailed from other states.
Police sources said that the two arrested from the airport allegedly used a stolen bike to commit the crime (chain snatchings) by approaching women who were walking alone under the guise of asking for directions.
The police said preliminary investigations showed that they stole around 27.5 sovereigns of gold, which could be worth over Rs 17 lakh at present market prices (22 carat).
The first incident was reported in Saidapet around 6 am. In quick succession, five other incidents were reported within a radius of a few kilometres. Swinging into action, the police started analysing CCTV footage and conducted vehicle searches at 56 places in the city.
As information gathered from the victims and other investigation indicated that the duo were from other states, vehicle checks were conducted at the Chennai airport and railway stations.
Chennai airport police inspector Pandi’s enquiry revealed that two men had tried to buy tickets in a hurry to Hyderabad. While one bought the ticket, the other could not since his identity documents had issues.
The Hyderabad-bound flight, which was about to take off, was stopped after necessary coordination with the Air Traffic Controller. Pandi entered the flight and nabbed the first accused. The other had meanwhile managed to get a ticket to Mumbai and was nabbed when he was waiting to board.
On alert shared by the city police, RPF personnel arrested the third from Ongole railway station. According to the police, cases were reported in Shastri Nagar, Guindy, Thiruvanmiyur, Saidapet and Velachery police stations. Further investigation is on.