VIJAYAWADA: If you think chain-snatching incidents are restricted to cities like Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Guntur, you are wrong. The sudden spurt in chain-snatching incidents in small towns and villages in the district in the past two weeks raises alarm bells. According to the information obtained from Krishna district police, over 20 chain-snatching incidents were reported in the district since October, throwing a challenge to the police.
On December 8 around 10:30 am, Inaguduru police received an alert from the patrolling police that two bike-borne men snatched a gold chain from a woman. The victim, Sarala (name changed), was on her way home after purchasing groceries. Two bike-borne men approached her from behind and one of the men snatched her mangalsutra and fled the spot before she raised an alarm.
The same day at 3:30 pm, a similar incident was reported at Veeravalli village under Gannavaram police station limits where unidentified miscreants snatched a gold chain from a woman after approaching her on the pretext of seeking address. Though the woman tried to catch them, they sped away on a bike. Around 5 pm on the same day, another incident was reported in a residential colony under Patamata police station limits where the accused, who were on a Pulsar bike, snatched a gold chain from a woman at Ramavarappadu and sped away.
Making it fourth such incident on the same day, another chain-snatching incident was reported in Atkur, where the accused robbed the gold chain from a woman by diverting her attention. “Criminals are mostly targeting lonely women. We suspect that only one group was involved in all the offences,” said Krishna district SP M Ravindranath Babu.
People residing in villages and colonies on outskirts under Patamata, Gannavaram and Hanuman Junction police station limits are worried over four chain-snatching incidents reported on the same day — December 8. Sources in the police department said that over 20 special teams were formed to nab the accused. The police have also intensified patrolling in the daytime and are taking the help of Village Defence Squads (VDS) to identify new persons in the village.
“We are verifying the details of old offenders. In Inaguduru incident, we have released photos of the accused based on the CCTV footage. We are also collecting the details of persons present in the area using mobile phone signals,” the SP explained. “With an aim to curb these incidents, we have intensified patrolling in the problematic areas,” he added.