KOCHI: Police suspect that a single person was behind the two chain snatching incidents that happened on consecutive days(Wednesday and Thursday) targeting elderly women who were out for morning walk.
In the first incident, a bike-borne person targeted a 67-year-old resident of Ponnekkara at around 5.45 am on Wednesday. The victim was walking at Mariyammankovil Road when she was approached by a youth asking for the way to Edapppally. While she was explaining the route, the accused snatched her chain. When she resisted, he sprinkled chilly powder on her face and fled from the place.Luckily,the snatched ornament was an imitation gold chain valued at around Rs 500.
A case was registered at Elamakkara police. Just 24 hours after the incident another elderly women was the victim and the modus operandi was very similar.This time the target was a 60-year-old Anjumana resident who was out for a morning walk at Ponnekara. The bike-borne miscreant approached the woman asking for the way to Edappally and grabbed her two-sovereign gold chain. When the woman resisted, he used chilly spray to escape from the place. Palarivattom police have registered a case.
Kochi City Police Deputy Commissioner S Sasidharan said that the involvement of the same person behind both incidents is suspected. “From the modus operandi, we suspect that both incidents are interlinked. We are conducting a probe into the incident. The accused person will be in our net soon,” he said.
Police have collected CCTV camera footage from nearby places. Details of people involved in similar crimes have also been collected. The assistance of cyber cell has also been sought to identify the person.
Similar chain incidents have happened in the recent past in the same area.On November 8 2022, two bike-borne miscreants snatched the chains of two elderly women in the Edappally North and Anjumana area. Elamakkara police which probed the case arrested two persons fro the crime.
“Elamakkara, Ponnekkara and Anjumana areas have several by-lanes. Similarly, these areas are also close to the National Highway. These are purely residential areas. Maybe these factors help the chain snatchers to disappear soon after the crime,” a police officer at Elamakkara police station said.