Serial chain snatching: Tambaram city police arrest Bengaluru duo and Kerala man

CHENNAI: After poring over footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras, the Tambaram city police traced and nabbed three chain snatchers allegedly involved in separate cases.

The Chitlapakkam police arrested an accused, who has been involved in theft cases for about three decades now, after tracking footage from CCTV cameras for more than 300 km stretch.

The 52-year-old man, a serial offender, had allegedly snatched two gold chains on September 19 and September 22, both in Chitlapakkam police limits.

A special team formed to trace the accused checked CCTV cameras along Pallavaram, Kundrathur, Kancheepuram, Kaveripakkam, Walajahpet, Arcot, and up to Vellore. On reaching Vellore, the officials received a tip-off about the suspect loitering in Madhavaram and apprehended the suspect, K Sasi, a native of Kerala.

Police investigations revealed that Sasi indulged in similar offenses in Pallavaram and Chromepet areas between 1995-2000 in the name of David Biju. For the next two decades, he shifted base to Kerala, where he got involved in similar crimes.

He was produced before a magistrate and was remanded in judicial custody.

In the other case, a woman riding a scooter with her two children was waylaid by bike-borne men near Padur, who snatched her gold chain and fled the scene on September 27. Though the special team from Kelambakkam police found it difficult to nab the suspects who used a fake number plate, they eventually managed to identify the vehicle on CCTV camera and followed it through.

During inquiries, they found that the accused were from Bengaluru. They had rented a house in Tambaram police limits and visited it once a month for their criminal activities.

On Wednesday, the police arrested the accused, J Jaison Mathew (31) and K Manikandan (31), both already wanted in another case in Kelambakkam.