Times of India: Mumbai: Friday, 07 July 2023.
Information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on Thursday has shown a drastic drop in the number of chain-snatching cases from 2,078 in 2013 to just 50 in 2023 till May 31.
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Mumbai police, though, have
managed to recover just Rs 9.1 crore worth of gold chains out of the total
worth Rs 39.4 crore robbed in the 10 years between 2013 and 2023.
The drop in cases this year is credited to the arrest of a major chain-snatching gang from Kalyan in an operation carried out by Ghatkopar police. Police officials added more than 6,000 CCTV cameras operational across the city have also helped them keep a check on the criminals. Activists said dug-up roads and bandobast have helped too.
Police said today the cases involve mainly first-time criminals as the gang that operated in the city is behind the bars after being booked under MCOCA, besides relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Most snatchings, a cop said, take place between 6pm and 9pm as the offenders take advantage of the dark.
The RTI report said a total of 149 cases were reported in the pandemic year of 2021- the least between 2013 and 2022. A night-long operation in June 2021 carried out by the Ghatkopar police team led by DCP Prashant Kadam, inspector Jitendra Agarkar, inspector Pramod Kokate and staff helped nab the key accused, Majlum Hussain alias Jaggu (44). Police also arrested Kasim Haidar Sayyad Irani (28), Talibh Irani (55), Jafarali Irani (39) and Saadikali Rehmat Saifullah Jaffri (19)-all residents of Ambivali in Kalyan. The gang members are still in jail as they were booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The arrest of the five led to the solving of over 100 chain-snatching and theft cases across the country.
The RTI data showed the maximum arrests, 1,057, were in 2013; the number has dropped to 56 now.
After the rise in chain-snatching cases, Mumbai police had created an anti-chain-snatching squad. After the cases began to drop, this squad was merged with Mumbai crime branch's property cell. The anti-chain-snatching squad used to study the snatching points, entry and exit points, and the analysis reports are submitted to the Mumbai police commissioner then. The police commissioner then directed the zonal DCP to deploy a team at all the marked points during rush hours in the morning and late evenings.
Former IPS officer Praveen Dixit said chain snatching needs to be seen as an act of terrorism as the victim is totally traumatised. Former police commissioner D Sivanandhan said the courts could dispose of cases expeditiously.
Information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on Thursday has shown a drastic drop in the number of chain-snatching cases from 2,078 in 2013 to just 50 in 2023 till May 31.
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The drop in cases this year is credited to the arrest of a major chain-snatching gang from Kalyan in an operation carried out by Ghatkopar police. Police officials added more than 6,000 CCTV cameras operational across the city have also helped them keep a check on the criminals. Activists said dug-up roads and bandobast have helped too.
Police said today the cases involve mainly first-time criminals as the gang that operated in the city is behind the bars after being booked under MCOCA, besides relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Most snatchings, a cop said, take place between 6pm and 9pm as the offenders take advantage of the dark.
The RTI report said a total of 149 cases were reported in the pandemic year of 2021- the least between 2013 and 2022. A night-long operation in June 2021 carried out by the Ghatkopar police team led by DCP Prashant Kadam, inspector Jitendra Agarkar, inspector Pramod Kokate and staff helped nab the key accused, Majlum Hussain alias Jaggu (44). Police also arrested Kasim Haidar Sayyad Irani (28), Talibh Irani (55), Jafarali Irani (39) and Saadikali Rehmat Saifullah Jaffri (19)-all residents of Ambivali in Kalyan. The gang members are still in jail as they were booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The arrest of the five led to the solving of over 100 chain-snatching and theft cases across the country.
The RTI data showed the maximum arrests, 1,057, were in 2013; the number has dropped to 56 now.
After the rise in chain-snatching cases, Mumbai police had created an anti-chain-snatching squad. After the cases began to drop, this squad was merged with Mumbai crime branch's property cell. The anti-chain-snatching squad used to study the snatching points, entry and exit points, and the analysis reports are submitted to the Mumbai police commissioner then. The police commissioner then directed the zonal DCP to deploy a team at all the marked points during rush hours in the morning and late evenings.
Former IPS officer Praveen Dixit said chain snatching needs to be seen as an act of terrorism as the victim is totally traumatised. Former police commissioner D Sivanandhan said the courts could dispose of cases expeditiously.
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