Mumbai: The bravery and presence of mind of an 11-year-old boy resulted in the arrest of a mobile snatcher on Sunday.
According to the police, the boy Mathew Nadar was walking along with his sister Vincy (15) towards a church for Sunday prayers in Indira Nagar near Sion around 7.50 am.
The accused reportedly came riding on a bike from behind, snatched the mobile from Vincy’s hands and took off. Mathew immediately threw an umbrella at the snatcher, who having lost his balance from the impact fell off the bike.
Soon people gathered around the mobile snatcher, grabbed him and handed him over to police officials.
According to the statement given by Vincy to Antop Hill police officials, the siblings were at the Optic art shop when suddenly a man appeared on a bike and snatched the Sony Xperia mobile phone from Vincy.
“When my brother saw the biker snatch my mobile, he threw the umbrella at him. The umbrella hit the snatcher, who lost his balance on the bike and fell down,” stated Vincy.
Both Mathew and Vincy then loudly shouted “chor chor” hearing which passersby came together and helped the children.
“The passers-by held the snatcher and called us. The mobile snatcher was identified as Kannan Devendra (39). He works with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s garbage collector unit. He admitted that he had snatched mobile phones previously and sold it in the black market in Mumbai. We have registered a case against relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against Devendra,” said a police official, who did not wish to be named.
(This story originally appeared in the Asian Age)
