BENGALURU: A young braveheart, Kumar H.H., waylaid a chain-snatching duo’s bike and caught hold of one of them, all the time fending off the knife attacks of the criminal’s partner, at Andhrahalli in rural Bengaluru on Thursday.
Kumar (33), a resident of Doddanna Layout, was heading to his friend’s house on a bike, when he heard loud screams of a woman from one of the lanes next to his house. He immediately rode his bike to the lane and found two men on a motorbike speeding towards him. A quick thinking Kumar parked his bike in the middle of the road, blocking the way of the culprits, who crashed into Kumar’s bike and fell.
Kumar immediately caught hold of one of them, while the other whipped out a knife and attacked Kumar. “I did not lose my grip on the thief even as I was trying to shield myself from his knife wielding partner,” said Kumar, who was injured in the incident. His motorbike and cell phone were damaged.
“Several people were nearby but initially no one came to help as one of the chain-snatchers was holding a knife. They all rushed in and secured the criminal, after I called the police. But his partner managed to escape with a part of the broken gold chain,” Kumar said. The police arrived at the spot and took the chain snatcher, identified as Hari Om, into custody.
His interrogating led the police to his partner, Neetu. The police also got crucial leads on the ‘Bhawari gang’ which is operating in and around the city. Bhawaris are a tribal community scattered across 10 to 12 villages in Uttar Pradesh. “Officials from the Central Crime Branch have left for UP and Haryana to gather more information about the gang and to seek custody of their gang leaders, Chatrasena and Rana, who have been arrested in Haryana,” a senior police officer said.
Senior police offices felicitated and thanked Kumar for his heroic efforts at the Taverekere police station. The chain snatching victim, Panchali, had stepped out of her house at Doddanna Layout in Andhrahalli around 1.30 pm when the chain-snatchers struck.
