Snatchers like city because women move with a lot of gold
Representational image
Hyderabad: Gangs of chain snatchers from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, UP and Maharashtra target women in Hyderabad because they wear more gold, and of better quality.
Gang members who have been busted admit that in North India, they have often ended up snatching fake gold ornaments. They thus consider Hyderabad as one of the best cities to operate in. After a couple of days here, they usually strike Bengaluru or Chennai before returning to their bases.
The Irani gang busted by the Cyberabad police earlier used to target women in Bihar and UP. But it was not worth their while. “The snatchers told us that if they targeted a woman in UP or Bihar, they might get a maximum of 5 gm gold. Also, very few women wear gold ornaments outside, so locating them was also difficult for them,” said LB Nagar ACP P. Venugopal Rao.
“Snatchers say that they can loot minimum of 30 to 50 gm of gold from just one victim (in Hyderabad). They thus can get a sizeable amount of gold and that too by targeting a few victims,” added the ACP. In recent cases of snatching, some women had lost 70 to 100 gm gold chains. “In the city, the minimum weight of a mangalsutra is 30 gram, which is why snatchers consider Hyderabad as their top target,” said another senior police official.
Irrespective of occasions, women here wear a lot of gold when they go out. “In two recent incidents, two women were targeted at KBR Park and Begumpet in the morning. Both women were out for morning walks, but they were wearing more than 40 gm of gold chains,” said a top cop.
In the KBR park incident, locals had managed to catch the accused.
According to police the “Irani gang” move between Bidar, Gulbarga, Parli (Karnataka), Katol, Loni, Amboli, Ghatkopar, Kalyan (Maharashtra), Hoshangabad, Pipariya, Bhopal (MP) and other places in avoid the cops after committing offences.
Three held for snatching
The Cyberabad police busted an interstate chain-snatching gang on Wednesday by arresting three youngsters who had robbed women recently in the city. The police recovered 975 grams of gold from the gang after tracking them down in their own states. Members of the Irani gang hail from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.
The arrested people are Fatheh Akram Ali, 23, from Nagpur, Hyder Akram Ali, 20, from Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Javed Ali, 35, from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Two more suspects are absconding. Police officials said the gangsters are relatives and belonged to a place in Maharashtra, but lived in different parts of India now.
Apart from gold the police recovered two bikes from the suspects. Officials said the total value of stolen goods is Rs 27 lakh.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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