Times of India: Madurai: Saturday, March 10, 2018.
It has been
three weeks since unidentified snatchers made off with gold jewellery worth Rs
2.2 lakh from V Suryakala, 30, of Pasumalai in Madurai while she was walking on
the road to get her children back home. The miscreants came on a bike with the
rider wearing a helmet and the young homemaker is yet to recover from the
nightmare. Her only consolation was that she was not injured in the incident.
Tirupparankundram
police did register a case but they were yet to arrest the accused as was the
case with many similar snatching incidents. Residents of the area point out
that a similar incident had recent taken place nearby very recently. Says
Suryakala’s husband Vayakattusamy, “Initially, the police gave us some hope
saying they will arrest the snatchers soon. But now, they are not committing
anything. The police presence in the locality has also come down and people are
sceptical of going out.”
A right to
information (RTI) petition filed by The Times of India has exposed the stunning
levels to which chain snatching incidents have gone up in the city. According
to the replies furnished by the city police, snatchers had made off with gold
chains worth a whopping Rs 2.70 crore in the last couple of years alone. While
jewellery weighing 664.25 sovereigns or 5.3 kgs was stolen in incidents in
2016, it increased to a whopping 683.25 sovereigns or 5.46 kgs in 2017 till
September-end alone. What has been revealing though is a sudden spurt in
snatching incidents, as only 148.5 sovereigns or 1.18 kgs was lost in 2015.
Going by the
police valuation of the jewellery (generally Rs 20,000 per sovereign is shown
during recoveries), the gold lost in 2017 (up to September) alone was worth Rs
1.37 crore and of that in 2016, Rs 1.32 crore. The recovery in 2017 was not
encouraging as it was only 35 per cent of the property lost. The percentage of
recovery in 2016 was 58.22 while in 2015 it was 22.89 per cent. The police
arrested 23 people in 2015, 159 in 2016 and 97 accused in 2017 (up to
September) in connection with these incidents. That the snatchings were made by
established criminals was clear in the smooth way they seemed to have operated.
No woman was injured in the last three years during snatching incidents in
Madurai.
While the
snatchers are making a killing, women are under constant threat while venturing
out. M Pankajam of Maruthupandiar Nagar said, “I have stopped wearing gold
chains after I lost one to snatchers a few months ago. I have started wearing
yellow rope instead of gold chain for the manglik. Many in my circle have opted
for it following my example,” she said. Many women have started wearing
high-neck churidars too as they feel safer in it than in a sari. Unlike
blouses, chains would not be visible much when seen from the backside, she
opined.
A senior
officer in the city police said that the crime rate could not be determined
through data alone. When the number of cases was higher, it could also mean
“freely registering cases”, which he claimed was the essence of effective
policing and crime deterrence.
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