Snatchers stole to fund dates, held

Noida: Two chain-snatchers who stole from others to fund outings with their girlfriends were arrested on Tuesday. Police said they sold the valuables to unscrupulous buyers at nominal rates, then took their girlfriends to malls on shopping sprees, where they spent the money on movies and branded apparel.
The duo are Chand (22), a resident of Ghaziabad and Wakil (23), a resident of Noida Phase 3. Two other gang members – Salman (22) and Qadir (24) – are at large.

Chand and Wakil confessed to having snatched six chains in the last fortnight, police said. The Sector 24 police station had deployed a plainclothes police team in the area to check rising instances of chain snatching. It was this team that nabbed the two on Monday.

SP (city) Dinesh Yadav said the gang used to travel on bikes and target women wearing gold chains. Once they had spotted their potential victim, they would take a U-turn to snatch the chains from the women. Police said that on June 20, they spotted three bike-borne criminals – Chand, Salman and Qadir – driving around Sector 12-22 on a Pulsar. “They spotted a woman with a gold chain. They turned back to cross her again, snatched the chain and tried to flee,” Yadav said. “The cops chased the bikers, who lost control and fell over. The police team managed to arrest Chand, while two others fled,” he added.

During interrogation, Chand revealed the snatchers used to commit crimes to meet the expenses of their girlfriends. Chand and Salman had earlier served six-month jail terms each in a theft case in Ghaziabad. He revealed the snatchers used to carry a bag with some shirts which they changed into after committing crimes to hoodwink police.
Based on Chand’s confession, Wakil was arrested in Phase 3 on Tuesday, and police recovered three gold chains, three mobile phones and the Pulsar used in the crimes. The seized bike itself had been stolen from a house in Phase 3.
Police are now trying to arrest other members of the gang.